


Time is a Storm

by Shyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Hurt Number Five | The Boy, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Number Five | The Boy Whump, Number Five | The Boy-centric, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, The Sparrow Academy (Umbrella Academy), and titles apparently, i suck at summaries, lets hope it isn't trash, the hargreeves are idiots trying their best, this is my first fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:20:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27987606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy/pseuds/Shyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Summary: "Time is a Storm in Which we are all Lost" - William Carlos WilliamsThe Umbrella Academy arrive in 2019 from the 60s only to be met by a very much alive Reginald and the startling realisation that they've been replaced with the Sparrow Academy. Que Five Whump and concerned siblings.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy), The Hargreeves & The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy)
Comments: 43
Kudos: 172





	1. Time has a Wonderful Way of Showing us What Really Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Time has a Wonderful Way of Showing us What Really Matters." - Margaret Peters
> 
> Five gets injured, his siblings are there to help- in their own ways.

"Shit."

Five's eyes dart between the dark figures standing poised for battle above him and his family. He could feel the ever-growing panic bubbling uncomfortably in his chest. With a deep exhale he pushed it down in favour of assessing their best options. It would have been easy to just jump his family out to safety, but of course the idiots didn't think to group together close enough for him to reach them. Attempting to be discrete his eyes flitted over towards his siblings. Diego was obviously preferring one leg over the other and Vanya looked exhausted, no doubt from wiping out the Commission agents and helping Harlan. The rest of his siblings weren't worse for wear, but none of them were in any condition to fight, especially against a team of superpowered individuals they'd never seen before. and- Shit. Everyone was still frozen at the sight of Ben, who was alive in this timeline apparently. 

Klaus reached out a shaking hand towards their not-so-deceased brother, "Ben?"

As if his question were the weight that finally caused the metaphorical tightrope of tension to snap in the room, the Sparrows initiated the inevitable fight everyone could feel was coming. One of them, a woman with dark hair and glasses jumped from the railing first, however instead of what would have been an uncomfortable landing, she was swallowed by a flock of what appeared to be _ravens?_ Ravens which didn't waste any time darting towards a very shocked Allison and Diego, who struggled to keep the birds from pecking out their eyes. Not wanting to be present for the rest of the Sparrow Academy to "grace" his siblings with their powers, Five made a move, he yelled to his siblings, "We can't fight like this! We have to get out of here!" Fortunately his siblings weren't as stupid as he'd first assumed, and they hastily sprinted towards him grabbing fistfuls of one another as Five's powers thrummed at his fingertips. Allison and Diego were the last to make it, having been on the opposite side of the room from Five as well as batting away killer birds.

Over his siblings shoulders he made eye-contact with a rather deformed looking Sparrow Academy member, one who grinned manically at him as he raised a jagged knife. Five hesitated, a thousand different possibilities rushing through his head like a tidal wave, before the member plunged the weapon into his own rib-cage, smile never ceasing. Instantly white hot pain ripped through Five's side causing a sudden dip in his powers. _What the hell?!_ Five grit his teeth and pulled desperately at the space around him. He needed to get his family away from the Academy, away from danger, he wouldn't let them die here. He'd been through hell and back for them, if he lost them again- well, he tried not to think of that. With one final tearing pull his ability enveloped them and brought them to the first place he could think of.

The harsh asphalt of Super Star Lanes' car park was the first thing that greeted Five upon their abrupt exit of the formally dubbed Umbrella Academy. His hand instinctively gripped his side, where warm blood was seeping from. He swallowed back bile, as he stumbled to his aching feet, black spots danced across his vision. He staggered dazedly, forcing him to lean against the nearest surface, which, luckily for him, was a stable wall. As his senses slowly returned, he glanced towards his siblings, still groaning on the ground pathetically.

"How do you not throw up every time you use your powers? Ah shi-" Diego curled up, cutting himself off with his own retching. Luther made a face, eyes comically wide and skin pale, that almost forced a laugh from Five. Almost.

"This has to be one of _the_ worst hangovers I've ever had." Klaus giggled from somewhere to Five's left, "And _that_ is saying something, trust me Fivey."

Allison hissed to his right, he looked to her, seeing as she poked and prodded the cuts and scrapes she'd gotten from the raven girl. Vanya stood easily, face pale and hands shaky, but otherwise alright. He breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone was ok.

"Alright, now that everyone's up, we need to find a place to stay." Five glanced again at Allison, "Can you use your powers to get us a hotel? Maybe some food as well?" She nodded reluctantly and something pulled at Five's heart. He didn't want to rely on Allison, especially when she'd expressed her discomfort on the subject of her rumours, but if they wanted to survive in this new and unfamiliar 2019 they needed her.

With a heavy weight lodged in his throat, Five nodded, head already overflowing with ideas on where would be the safest side of town to stay, how they could get around without be noticed by whatever security system Reginald would have implemented to find them. He opened his mouth to relay where they should go, but was harshly interrupted by Luther's scowl. "Why are you taking charge all of a sudden? Isn't all of this your fault? We were doing just fine in the 60s! We all had lives that _you_ barged in to!" Five blinked mouth opening and closing like a fish, Luther might as well have punched him in the gut with how sudden his onslaught of words were. " _Now_ look where you've gotten us! I don't know about you but I don't remember there being a Sparrow Academy in 2019 last I checked. So you don't get a say, not anymore."

Five recovered from his initial shock, transferring his pain into seething anger at the last comment. "I don't know if you've noticed Luther, but I've _never_ had a say! Every time I try and get something through you're _thick_ skulls you toss it aside! And need I remind you, we wouldn't have had to time travel in the first place if it hadn't been for you!" He could see the exact moment his words hit their mark, he continued twisting the knife further, "What did you _think_ would happen? You could just live your life, while Vanya wasted away in a cage? What, just because you didn't know how to control her?" Luther looked ready to protest. Five pulled away from the wall to stand up straighter, ensuring his next words hit harder. "Well _guess what_ Luther, people have free will, you can't just chain them up whenever you feel like it!" Distantly Five noticed Klaus' eyes widen in his peripheral, he was staring somewhere at Five's torso, mouth opening ready to say something.

Not yet done with Luther, Five went to continue his verbal assault, when he abruptly paused, much to the confusion of his family. His hand shot to his chest, squeezing his shirt in a death grip as his face lost all remnants of his earlier anger, turning pained as harsh coughs consumed his small frame. His knees buckled and he barely had time to catch himself with one of his hands, as the other stayed firmly clamped over his mouth. Throughout the unceasing coughs that continued to tear from his throat, he curled further into himself, Five barely noticed the five pairs of footsteps sprinting to his side. Once it was over he sat back against the wall, dizzy and wishing for the metallic taste of blood to go away. He paused, blood? Sure enough when he looked to his hand, thick sticky crimson covered it, as well as the asphalt he'd been leaning over.

"S-shit."

Someone was patting his cheek urgently, he opened (opened? When had he closed them?) his eyes to see five blurry figures crouched at his side. One of them- Diego? Was yelling something he couldn't quite make out. Five went to stand, but was quickly, but gently pushed back down by strong hands. Luther? His head felt fuzzy, where were they all again? What was he doing? Was his family hurt?

"Don't move you idiot! Where are you hurt?" Diego again. Was he hurt? He didn't remember. Wasn't he arguing with Luther before? That's right. Shit he'd said too much, he'd hurt Luther. Where was he? He needed to apologise.

"I saw a shit tonne of blood on his right side just before- well, you know." Klaus this time. Shit he thought his shrapnel wound had at least closed up, then again he supposed he hadn't really given it much time to heal. Well more accurately, he hadn't had time for it to heal, what with the impending doom of two apocalypses. He felt someone lift his shirt and sweater up, exposing his right side to the harsh cold of night. Five shivered, he could feel goosebumps blossom over his skin.

"What the fuck? When did he get this? And- Shit, is that the shrapnel wound from last 2019?" Five wanted to tell the idiots to 'Fuck off' and let him sleep in peace, fortunately the sweet oblivion of sleep was more persistent than his siblings, which almost had him chuckling- or maybe he actually was?- the thought of something beating the Hargreeve's in pure stubbornness was ridiculous. His sight began to grow dark, and slowly but surely his eye lids grew heavier. However, a sudden pressure on his side along with an accompanied indescribable pain had Five's eyes shooting open, a cry tearing from his abused throat. Coughs once again took his breath away, as he tried to squirm away from the hand pinned to his side.

"Hey! Five! Calm down, ok? It's just Diego! You're safe." Was that Luther? Didn't Five need to apologise to him? He took a stuttering breath, apology at his lips, before something caught in his lungs. He stopped abruptly, pain overtaking his very being. He opened his eyes lazily, gaze flittering across the worried ones of his siblings, before settling on Luther. He looked like the very definition of a kicked puppy. Perhaps it was the blood loss that caused him to deliriously giggle at the thought, or maybe the exhaustion that coated all of his limbs like dense honey, hindering his usually activity-riddled brain. However at the look of pure panic on Luther's face, he quickly sobered up.

"S-sorry Luther. I didn't m-mean it." Confusion shone bright in Luther's eyes.

"What? What do you mean Five?" Growing increasingly frustrated at Luther's lack of understanding, Five slowly maneuvered his honey-covered hand towards Luther, he must have missed entirely, because the next thing he knew, Luther was grasping his fallen limb tightly, yet gently in his large hands. Five gave Luther as hard a squeeze as he could manage.

"E-earlier... Yelled." He grit his teeth at the lack of a coherent sentence, but plowed on anyway, "Y-you... You didn't d-deserve it. I was wrong. My fault."

"No, no Five! It wasn't your fault ok? I was angry and I blamed the one person who didn't deserve it." Luther's voice sounded choked. "But that doesn't matter right now, ok? You need to stay awake, do you understand me?" Five hummed, not trusting his mouth to form the words of affirmation he so desperately wanted to portray. Sleep enticed him, but Luther's firm but shaking voice kept him grounded. He needed to know if anyone else was injured. He squinted up to the blurry figure of Luther, mouth opening with no sound to accompany it. "Hey, don't worry about speaking, we've got you- I've got you."

It was only then Five realised that somehow between leaning against the wall and trying to speak, Luther had picked him up and began carrying him. Just how out of it was he? Five strained his neck to look at Diego and Vanya awkwardly hovering next to Luther as he walked swiftly through the night. Diego was applying pressure on his side, although Five couldn't feel it. In fact, his body was entirely too numb for his liking. Further ahead, Allison and Klaus were glancing this way and that, looking for a hotel? He wasn't sure, but every now and then they would glance back to look at Five, gazes heavy with worry.

After making sure everyone was safe and together, tension slowly eased from his body, allowing his mind to be enveloped in an oblivious fog. A second later he was being roused by Vanya's urgent shakes.

"Don't fall asleep Five! Keep you're eyes open, ok?" He'd normally ask why- panic at the thought of a possible enemy attack, however all Five wanted to do was sleep. Couldn't Vanya understand that he was tired? Exhausted even. Soon enough his eyes shut and he was swallowed by the merciful darkness. As he heard Vanya's voice rise in pitch and grow frantic all Five could think was that he was finally able to rest.

When Five's limp body, remained unresponsive even to Vanya's desperate pleas, Luther sped up, causing Diego to stumble slightly. He tried not to think of Five's pale complexion, his stuttering breathing or how weak his grip had been moments prior during his apology. When he glanced down all he could see was red, the wetness seeped uncomfortably into Luther's black shirt.

"Guys!" Klaus' voice sung from behind an old building, "Your _favourite_ sibling- and Allison, found a place to stay! Hurry up, Allison's rumouring the-" Klaus peeked his head from around the corner of an old building, face suddenly losing colour at the sight of Five laying like a corpse in Luther's arms. He caught Klaus' eye, something unspoken passing between them before Klaus rushed back towards the way he came. "This way! Quick!" They followed him into an equally as old motel, it looked the opposite of sanitary, but with Five in his current condition, Luther couldn't give a shit. Any place was better than the streets and fortunately for them, most hotels and motels had a first aid kit.

As they hurriedly approached the front office, Allison rushed out, a room key clutched in her hands, she too paled at Five's condition, but stayed focused as she guided them up the stairs of the motel, scanning the rooms as she past them. She came to a sudden stop outside room 207, practically barging the door down in her haste to open it. As Luther placed Five down onto the nearest bed, the siblings scattered around the room searching desperately for a first aid kit. Horror sat uncomfortably in Luther's stomach, what would they do if the place didn't even have a goddamn first aid kit?! He looked to Diego, still holding pressure on Five's wound, they shared a look of panic.

"A- Ah shit-" The sound of something crashing caught their attention, as Klaus stumbled out of a closet, kicking up dust in his wake, "Aha!" he exclaimed holding a white box triumphantly above his head.

Diego was up before Klaus even had the chance to move, snatching the box from him. He ignored the look of offence Klaus gave him, before practically sprinting towards Five's side. "His sweater, we need to take it off so I can get a good look at the wound." Diego fixed Luther a look, but Luther was already gently removing the sweater, rearranging gangly limbs as he did so. Fortunately, Vanya had already removed Five's blazer in the parking lot, holding onto it like a life-line. She must have noticed Luther's too-big-fingers fumbling with Five's buttons, as she swiftly took over for him. Although he was relieved, Luther suddenly felt useless, hovering awkwardly behind Diego as he began to disinfect and stitch the nasty looking stab wound on Five's side. He was surprised to see another, older bandage a few inches away from it, as well as countless bruises littering Five's torso.

The sight made Luther feel sick, turning away from the gruesome sight. How had Five had the energy to even jump them away from the house, let alone take them as far as he did? He paled as he remembered the words he'd spoken to him. Why had he blamed everything on Five? They were all at fault for ruining the timeline. He cringed at the memory of the family dinner in 1960. He'd only realised that it was the first one they'd all been present for since that fateful day in 2002, after Klaus had confirmed, that yes, Ben had been there. They hadn't thought of Five at all, too wrapped up in their own lives' to see how much they had hurt him.

Luther practically jumped out of his skin at the tender touch on his bicep. He looked down to see Vanya, her mouth pulled into a kind smile, worry shone in her gentle eyes. "We're having showers now, everyone's already decided you should go first." He was suddenly very aware of the damp, yet quickly-drying blood coating his shirt. _Five's_ blood. He tried to swallow past the lump in his throat that that thought gave him. He nodded numbly, body automatically moving to the bathroom while his mind tried to catch up. He purposely kept his gaze forwards, not wanting to see Five's unconscious form.

He didn't remember peeling off sticky clothes or squeezing into the small space of the shower, as cold water pelted onto his too-thick skin. All he felt was the gnawing guilt that settled uncomfortably in his stomach. If he hadn't blamed him, Five wouldn't have gotten so worked up. Eventually he convinced his shaking hands to shut off the water and he left the small space, pulling a white- yet stained towel around him. A knock rapped excitedly on the bathroom door.

"Heyy big guy!" Klaus sung. "We found some extra-large clothes for ya. Looks like they were left over from the last guys who stayed here." He paused, "So I'm just gonna throw 'em in, ok?" The door creaked open a crack, then a pile of clothes were flung in beside Luther's feet. He mumbled a thanks as the door closed. Luckily whoever the shirt and pants belonged to, must've been a body-builder, they were still tight around the arms but otherwise comfortable. The long pants, however refused to stay up. _How big was this guy?_ Luther fumbled a bit as he grabbed his own belt, grimacing at the blood caking it, he ran it under the tap, before looping it through and tightening it. Satisfied that his new- borrowed pants weren't going to fall down, he stepped out into the main room of the motel to the sight of his siblings, all in various states of discomfort and worry.

Luther quickly side-stepped as Klaus bulldozed into the now empty bathroom. "Bathroom's _mine_ bitches!" Klaus' overall relaxed and well- Klaus behaviour brought a smile to most of the siblings faces.

Luther cleared his throat awkwardly, "How's- how's he uh doing?" The questions' affect was immediate, everyone tensed, Vanya hid her face in her hands rubbing her temples rhythmically, while Allison's far-away gaze sharpened into a scowl. He wasn't surprised when it was Diego who had spoken up out of the three.

"Good, all things considered. It's just-" He broke off, glancing at Five's small figure with unease.

When he didn't continue Allison stepped up, "He hasn't woken up- or even moved since he passed out. I mean- I don't even know if what we're doing is what's best for him. We should've taken him to a hospital or- or _something!_ "

"You _know_ why we can't take him to a hospital Allison!" Diego snapped, eyes finally tearing away from their smallest brother. " _This_ is the safest place for him, you know that!"

"I know! I- I know ok?! It's just- I- I can't stand it! I hate this! I hate the stupid Sparrow Academy! I hate that Five's hurt and none of us even noticed until he collapsed! Again!" Tears were streaming down Allison's face. "We have to be the worst goddamn family- I mean we all saw him limping in 2019, and again he was obviously using the wall for support before!" She brought her shaking hands towards her face, wiping the tears furiously. "Why can't we just- be a _family!?_ " Vanya choked out a sob from her slumped over position on the bed beside Five.

"He hides it from us." She whispered, tone bordering on frustrated. "He always has." Allison looked up tears disappearing in favour of confusion.

"What do you mean?" Luther finally spoke up.

"Don't you remember? Whenever he got hurt on missions, he wouldn't tell anyone. Not even Grace." She scoffed, a sad nostalgic smile blossoming across her face, "I'd always find him in his room treating whatever injury he'd gotten. It was like pulling teeth for Ben and I to get him to let us help."

"I'd never noticed." Allison's brows furrowed trying to remember. "I'd seen him get a cut or two, but I'd always thought he went to Grace like the rest of us." Allison shrunk into herself, shame coating her next words, "Everyone just saw him as the know-it-all prick back then. We never bothered to check on him, we all had our buddy- the person who would check us for injuries. Five, he didn't want one, said it was stupid and childish. We didn't even push for it."

"Yeah, I was more upset that that left me with Klaus and Ben. Shit, we were awful." Diego turned to Vanya, " _Especially_ to you." She looked ready to protest, "Hey, don't try and defend us, ok? We may have been kids, but that's no excuse for excluding you just for being 'ordinary'. That shit's messed up."

Klaus chose this time to extravagantly slam the bathroom door open, barely giving Luther time to shuffle out of the blast zone. "Who's next? 'Cause the water pressure is to _die_ for." He was given four identical unimpressed faces as an answer. "Jeez, what's got all your panties in such a twist? Unless Sleeping Beauty over there," He nods his head to the sleeping form of Five, "has awoken to his true loves' kiss and wants a shower in the time I've been gone...?" A pause, "Thought so. Then there really shouldn't be this much dilly-dallyin'. You all stink, like nasty. You might as well have taken a dip in the nearby sewage. I mean there was this _one_ time- you shoulda' been there- I was high as-."

"Ok! Enough! Enough!" Luther scrunched his face up, trying to get rid of the eerily vivid picture Klaus had just painted in his mind. "Allison, you should probably clean up those cuts, they look pretty painful."

"Uh, she's not the only one who got eaten alive by birds. What about me?" Diego spoke up from where he was tossing and catching one of his knives.

"Diego, remind me. How _old_ are you, again?"

"Same age as you asshole! Or is basic math too _hard_ for you?" Diego leant forward, a mocking grin directed at Luther. "Sorry, did you want me to use simpler language instead?"

"Actually," Klaus piped up, "we're all different ages now, _and_ I'm officially the oldest! Well- other than Five, I guess." Klaus sat cross legged on the nearest bed. "Wow! Isn't that a trip? I'm thirty-four years old!"

"Shit. Wait- does that mean I'm younger than Klaus?!" Diego and Luther shared a look.

"Thirty-one!"

"Twenty-nine!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?! I can't be the youngest!" Diego groaned, while Luther was struggling to stay standing from the laughter overwhelming him.

"How long were you in Dallas?" Vanya giggled.

"Around two and a half months. What about you?"

"The good news is, you're not the youngest Diego. I was only there for... just over a month, I think?" Vanya glanced over to a very done Allison. "How old are you Allison?"

"Thirty-one, I was in Dallas for two years and almost five months." She stood up, exasperated, hands on her hips like a mother scolding her children. "Am I going to be able to have a shower now? Or are we going to keep continuing this-" she waved her hands vaguely towards them, "-whatever _this_ is?"

"Nope! Shower's all yours!" The second oldest of the Hargreeves siblings answered.

As the door to the bathroom shut, silence reigned over the motel room. Luther chose to use this chance as an excuse to stop hovering. He awkwardly moved a chair over to Five's bedside and- pleading the old thing wouldn't collapse under his large form- sat down. He watched the small chest rise and fall in a comfortable rhythm, Five's face was still too pale for Luther's liking, but it was definitely an improvement from when he was bleeding out in Luther's arms. Had he not known Five, he would think, in his current condition, that the boy would shatter in a cruel mimicry of glass under the smallest of touches. This thought was the only one holding back his hand from brushing away the loose strands of hair that stuck to Five's sweat covered forehead.

"What if he doesn't recover?" His words are a whisper having lost all traces of his earlier mirth, the question was more to himself than to anyone else, but Diego's head snaps up. His determined gaze catching Luther's.

"He will." There's a vulnerable shake in the otherwise confident tone Diego's voice holds.

"How do you know?"

"Isn't it obvious monkey brain? Because he's _Five_." and _oh_ do those words strike something in Luther's chest. Of course, he's _Five_. Five can do anything, and a stab wound to the stomach sure as hell isn't going to stop him from saving the world. Or- he supposes- in this case, fixing whatever the hell his siblings did to their timeline.

Soon enough everyone's gotten cleaned up, and with a lot of arguing, the sleeping arrangements are made. Vanya and Allison take the only other available bed, Diego get's the long couch, with Klaus settling on the smaller one. Unfortunately that leaves Luther, the largest, to sleep on the floor. Allison sympathetically promises they'll have a rotation system every night.

Of course it's an unspoken agreement that Five will keep the bed, and they're all happy to let him have it for as long as the old man needs.

The night passes without issue, and Luther is awoken by the musty smell of the motel and bacon? as well as the curtain filtered light of morning shining uncomfortably on his face. He props himself up on his elbows taking in the room and it's inhabitants. Diego's already up, the sizzle of food on a frying pan a welcome sound to Luther's empty stomach. Allison's leaning against the kitchen island chatting with Vanya and Klaus. Luther groans as he stands, his limbs sore from sleeping on stiff carpet.

"Morning sleepy head, almost thought we'd have to wait the whole day for your lazy ass to get up."

"Ha ha, very funny Diego." Luther deadpans back as he moves towards his siblings. A quick glance back, confirms that Five is still sound asleep, showing no sign of having woken at all.

"We got oil-drenched bacon!" Klaus beams in faux excitement, "-and even oilier eggs! Yay!" he claps his hands together, bouncing on his toes.

"This motel's crap." Diego looks over his shoulder towards Allison, "You couldn't have picked a better place?"

"Sorry oh-high-and-mighty Diego, I was a little more preoccupied trying to, oh- I don't know- save our brother?!" Although Allison's expression was stern, there was a hint of a smile pulling at her lips. Luther shoots Klaus a Look, after he cracks up laughing at the typical sibling exchange. At Diego's simple shrug, Allison rolls her eyes fondly. Diego ignores it and begins to plate up the bacon and eggs, which don't last long in the presence of five starving siblings.

"Does anyone want coffee? Or tea?" Vanya's standing by the kettle, ready to rummage through the cup drawer.

"Oh _God yes please_!"

"I could go for a coffee."

"Two sugars please."

"Black."

"I'm not really a coffee person, so no thanks."

"So five coffees all up. Got it." Vanya skillfully grabbed five cups, placing them gently on the counter.

"What? No, it's only four, I didn't want one." Vanya stared at Luther confused.

"What? But I heard five replies..."

"You brain dead idiots gonna get the coffee started or what?"

Everyone's heads snapped to the now very-much-awake Five, as he pulled himself up to lean against the wooden back board of the bed. Even in his disheveled state, he glowered at his siblings.

"Five!" Five very tired and excited siblings rushed to Five's bedside.

" _What?_ " He snapped in turn.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to hear Five insult us!" Klaus giggled.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine. How long was I asleep?"

"All night, it's-" Vanya checked the alarm clock on his bedside table, "-10:00 in the morning." Instead of replying, Five's face looked thoughtful, as if figuring out their next step. After what feels like an eternity of them all holding their breaths, waiting patiently for their smallest brother to tell them what to do, he brings his head up, holding their gazes with his own fiercely determined one.

"We need supplies, food and clothes."

"Can I get the clothes?! Pretty please Five?" Five turns, exasperated to Klaus, who's practically on his knees begging. He only rolls his eyes.

"Sure. But not alone. We don't know where the Sparrow Academy is right now and we don't have a lot in the ways of communication. So we're going to implement a buddy system. Everyone understand?" As he stares each sibling down, one by one, they all nod, murmuring affirmatives.

"I want Vanya!" Vanya perks up at her name, her eyes alight with joy.

"Alright, so Klaus and Vanya are finding clothes." Five turns to the remaining siblings, "Allison, Luther and Diego, you guys get food."

"What? I don't wanna be stuck with ape-brain and Allison!" Five looks blearily at Diego, actually now that Luther thinks about it, Five looks exhausted.

"Suck it up. It's that or helping Klaus and Vanya. Up to you." Suddenly Five's eyes are drooping, and his head nods, before he abruptly shoots back up, rubbing his eyes furiously. "Shit. Allison, could you rumour me to stay awake or something?" Allison's brows furrow.

"Five you should be sleeping, you need to recover." He shakes his head, eyes looking at her pleadingly.

"I need to be awake in case something happens while you guys are gone. I'm vulnerable enough as it is." He looked like even the thought of being weak left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Well, why don't I stay and look after you?" Diego pipes up.

"No, _you idiot_ , we need all hands on deck here. The more people out getting necessities, the faster and more efficiently it will go. We can't be _slacking_." Diego just puts his hands up in silent surrender.

"Fine, jeez. Sorry old man." Allison just shakes her head at the two.

_"I hear a rumour that you couldn't fall asleep."_

A white haze briefly takes over Fives eyes, before clearing as quickly as it came. With his newfound awareness, Five shifted to get more comfortable, hissing at the movement.

"Thanks Allison." The softness that shone in his eyes at those words, disappears almost as fast as the rumour had, as he turns sternly to the others. "I don't care how you do it, just get some clothes and some food, and be quick about it. Got it?"

"Yessir!" Klaus salutes, while the others nod and stand to leave in their groups.

"Oh and Allison?" Luther looked to see Allison turn back towards Five.

"Yes Five?"

"Don't forget the coffee." She huffed a laugh.

"Sure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, not sure if anyone will actually read the story, but I'll just warn the select few who do. I am a procrastinator. So please. Don't expect a strict deadline on chapters. I'll try and do them as best I can in the time I have spare, but honestly I can't make any promises.
> 
> Anyway! Thank you for reading the first chapter. Originally I was gonna put more into it, but I got carried away and added some things. So what I had marked as "First Chappie" is now being shifted to the next one. But I suppose it works better that way anyways.
> 
> I will take constructive criticism but please be nice. I'm just here to have fun and torment everyone's favourite old man child.


	2. The Trouble is, You Think You Have Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The trouble is, you think you have time." - Jack Kornfield, in the Buddha's Little Instruction Book.
> 
> The siblings leave Five in the motel while they get clothes and food.

Five's last words echo fondly through Allison's head as she analytically turns a jar of coffee from the local shop in her hands. Unfortunately, she had no idea what brand of coffee Five favoured. She'd just go with the most expensive- it's not like she was actually _buying_ anything anyway.

" _Jesus_ Allison! How long are you gonna spend staring at coffee?" Allison pivoted to be met with Diego's childish scowl. She sighed, Luther and Allison had decided it was best to split up in order to find everything they needed. Diego on the other hand had acted like a petulant child, moping behind her as she got her half of the list.

"Five deserves a good coffee- and do you _really_ want to listen to him complain about bad coffee?" Diego just crossed his arms, insufferable scowl still in place. "Are you actually planning on helping us? You may as well have stayed with Five." She didn't wait for an answer, instead reaching for the largest, more expensive jar of coffee, quickly pocketing it in the trolley. She was surprised when suddenly, Diego was snatching the list from her free hand, perusing it with disdain before shoving it back at her.

"I'll get the milk and bread." and with that he stalked off presumably towards the right sections. Allison hoped he wouldn't get lost in the absolute maze of a shop knowing her siblings. Perhaps she shouldn't have left Luther to his own devices...

All in all she finally managed to complete her ridiculously large half of the list just under half an hour, before she was maneuvering her and her trolley-full of items towards their 'meeting place'. She wasn't surprised when she found no sight of Luther or Diego. 'Seriously, Diego?' He only had to get bread and milk for God's sake. Surely they couldn't have _both_ gotten lost... Could they?

Fortunately she was only waiting for another fifteen minutes- her limit was twenty- before she heard the familiar bickering of two idiots making their way towards her.

"-Well if you hadn't knocked the poor girl over with your gorilla arms we wouldn't have had to help clean up!"

"Hey! You're the one who pushed me first!"

"How was I supposed to know she was behind you?"

"Children! Children!" Allison snapped her fingers in their- now very taken aback- faces. "Now is not the time for petty arguments-" Luther opened his mouth dumbly, pointing accusingly at Diego.

"But-"

"No! No 'buts' now. Did you get everything on your list Luther? Diego?" She fixed both of them her best scolding stare.

Diego full-body huffed exaggeratedly, milk and bread secured in his arms. "Yeah."

Luther shifted uncomfortably, causing Allison to barely contain her eye-roll. "They were out of marshmallows..."

"All of them?" He gulped, tugging at his high collared shirt.

"Uh... Yeah." With one final disappointed look to the two man-children she was now apparently babysitting- the unspoken _'You're going to be the one to tell _him_.'_ directed at Luther- Allison turned to make her way towards a nearby counter, waiting patiently as the worker scanned and put her items in an abundance of bags. At the feeling of attention on her back, Allison was suddenly very aware of how to anyone else, her and her brothers must look like doomsday preppers. Between their two large trolleys full to the brim and overflowing with items, and Diego innocently holding a carton of milk and a bag of bread- which he was grasping too tightly she realised.

"Don't squash the bread." The remark had left her lips before she'd had time to stop it. However, Diego scrambled to readjust his hold without complaint. They _were_ children. _Literal_ kids following their mother. She shook her head in disbelief.

After a tremendous effort by the employee to pack all their items into bags, she silently instructed her brothers to begin placing the bags back into the trolleys while she turned to face the woman across from her, smiling politely.

"Your total is- uh $582.95, was that cash or credit?" The poor thing looked absolutely pale.

 _"I heard a rumour that we bought all of this and we're free to leave legally."_ She didn't wait for the employee's eyes to turn that familiar white before she was quickly walking past- trying to get the feeling of guilt from her stomach- and moving towards the exit. She didn't need to turn around to know she was being flanked by Luther and Diego, who she had left the duty of pushing their trolleys.

Although she'd agreed to help with her powers, she still struggled getting past the guilty part of her that knew the consequences. She never truly understood how horribly violating her rumours had made people feel until Lila had told her to stop breathing. She shivered at the memory, reaching up to her throat. That would be the second time she'd lay helpless on the floor suffocating. She had _no_ intention of experiencing _that_ for a third time. She winced when she recalled rumouring Five just that morning, although she knew it wasn't his first time being rumoured- she'd made it a nasty habit to use her power on all of her siblings when they were children, especially for petty reasons- she knew that it would probably still be uncomfortable for him. When she saw him again she'd make sure to remove the rumour and force him to rest.

"Wait! Allison!" She took a calming breath, willing the murderous glare from her face as she turned around to Luther- if he wanted to waste any more time she'd have his head. She was shocked, however, to see he had stopped a bit further behind, beside him Diego was sitting on a bench massaging his lower leg, his face was scrunched up in pain. All thoughts of possibly killing her brothers and getting away with making it look like an accident were swept from her mind as she rushed to Diego's side.

"S-shit! I thought it was doing better!" He hissed behind clenched teeth.

"Why didn't you tell anyone!?" She growled barely suppressing her frustration. Another breath in and out. "Can you walk?" She asked softly.

"I'm not an invalid Allison! I can walk." The last remark seemed more to himself than anyone else, as he scrunched his face in determination, hands shaking with anticipation as he gingerly placed pressure on his foot, he immediately winced. "Shit. I must've sprained it trying to push that monster of a thing." He jabbed a thumb towards the offending object sitting innocently discarded beside them.

Allison looked to the various shops surrounding them, one of which was a cheap dollar store. She stood from her crouch. "Alright I'll see if they have anything for your leg in there, ok?" They nodded as she hastily walked towards the shop, praying they had an ankle brace of some kind. Fortunately, she found one near the counter, surrounded by similar products and wasted no time grabbing the sturdiest one, rumouring the creep behind the counter- who made an innapropriate comment on her 'curvy' appearance- without remorse, before making her way back to her brothers. "Here, it's not perfect but it should help." Diego took the offered item gratefully, tearing into the plastic surrounding it- with his _teeth_ no less! The animal.

Allison turned back to Luther, "I don't think we can help Diego walk if we're both pushing a trolley, so we're gonna have to take them one at a time." She looked to Diego who had just finished putting his shoe back on, preparing to stand again.

"I'll take the first one, you stay with Diego and the trolley." Allison nodded in turn, focusing on getting Diego to _sit_ back _down_.

"You don't need to get up just yet Diego. Rest some more." Surprisingly , Diego just nodded resigning without a fuss, to which Allison was appreciative.

She took her seat next to him, anxiously checking the large white, and fairly extravagant clock hanging from one of the feature walls of the shopping centre. They had already wasted enough time in the shop, now they were going to be even later than they were originally, almost over an hour and a half late.

"Five's gonna be pissed." She snapped her head to Diego, his voice had banished the silence that had hung awkwardly between them. She winced, a hesitant smile gracing her lips.

"Yeah... Yeah he is." She thought back to his too-limp limbs, the eerily grey shade his skin had turned- she never wanted to experience the heartbreak of seeing that again. Rivalling even her own suffocating memories.

"The old man can _'suck it up'_ ," He mocked Five's earlier words childishly, "Even injured he's a pain in the ass."

"That's Five for you..." She didn't sound committed to the jest however, more dejected at the reminder of their smallest brother than anything. Diego must have noticed her sinking mood.

"Hey, he'll be alright, ok? I bet the old little shit will be bouncing around like a man on a mission in no time!" He grinned as Allison met his eyes, "I mean- just this morning he was asking for a coffee, and bossing us around. That's half his personality already." His smile only seemed to brighten as laughter bubbled past Allison's throat. His grin softened, "As soon as he's better we'll fix this shit situation, and you'll see Claire in no time." Allison's smile fell, she stared into Diego's reassuring eyes, of course he would hit the nail right on the head. Since seeing the Sparrow Academy the only person on her mind was Claire. Was she still in this timeline? Had the Allison of this reality met Patrick and had Claire? Did they even exist in this timeline?

"Thanks Diego." Her smile had returned, a grateful tinge lighting her eyes. She looked back up to see Luther rounding the corner, shuffling awkwardly around crowds of people.

"Sorry, didn't mean to take so long, I forgot where we parked." He scratched his neck ashamed.

"Don't worry about it." Allison stood, helping Diego up as well. "Let's just get out of here."

"How are we gonna take all of this stuff with us?" Vanya mused in delight as Klaus gave another twirl in one of the many outfits he'd picked out. He pouted at Vanya's question.

"Are you- _doubting_ me dear Vanya?" His astonished betrayed look was only ruined by the sparkly hot pink cowboy hat he had clutched to his chest. "I told you I had a plan. Don't worry your pretty little head about it, ok?" She smiled as he plopped the hat onto her head, forcing her to blink glitter from her eyes.

"Alright, I trust you."

"And you _should_! I am a _very_ trustworthy guy!" He rushed back into the dressing room, returning in a new and very extravagant outfit, fur outlined his new coat, and he wore a colourful crop top above his black ripped jeans. They'd both dumped their old clothes in the furthest room, wearing tag-less new clothes in order to minimise the amount they would have to carry. Vanya had finished picking out a few outfits for herself- just some simple button-ups and pants- long before Klaus, who had insisted that in order for him to be in 'top form' he needed to _be in 'top form'_.

"We still need to get clothes for the rest of them." She gave a pointed look at his current basket full of clothes. Offended, he held the basket closer to him protectively.

"I _know_! I just needed another pair of those _magnificent_ coats!" He huffed exaggeratedly, making a 'hurry up' gesture as he walked past her. She rolled her eyes fondly, grabbing her own clothes and following dutifully.

She was embarrassed to say that it didn't take them long to get clothes for Luther or Diego. Luther was just coats and sweaters, whilst Diego was to be given a lot of black, easy-to-move-around-in black. For Allison they tried to find more 60s styles while still keeping it modern. She'd been in the 60s for around two years, Vanya wanted to give her a bit more familiarity, rather than just dumping her back into the designer goods she was practically forced to wear as a celebrity. Five on the other hand. Well they were stumped. He was fifty-eight in a child's body. How the hell do you shop for someone like _that_?

"Maybe we could find him a school uniform?" Klaus joked. Vanya only gave him a 'not impressed' look. "Ok, then we could just get him button ups and a sweater? It'll pretty much be the same outfit he has now, but I doubt he'd care. Right?" At that Vanya, nodded thoughtfully.

"Sure, I mean, he never minded the Academy uniform when we were younger, and-" She paused, a disturbed look crossing her face, "I can not for the life of me picture him in anything else." Klaus giggled.

"Oh I'm sure we could get him into something more comfortable when all this Sparrow nonsense is done and fixed." He had a cheeky grin, that Vanya mirrored- although with less maliciousness.

They had grabbed a handful of white button-ups, black and beige sweaters, ties- knee-high socks, had been snuck in by a giggling Klaus- and some shorts as well as long pants, 'just in case'. As they approached the exit, Vanya grew anxious, she glanced at the security man standing by the exit, then turned to Klaus.

"Now what?" She questioned, she could feel a nervous sweat on her forehead at the sight of him grinning manically, stride widening and turning to face the entrance.

"Now-" He took off in a sprint, "- _We run!_ " Vanya barely had time to sprint after him before the security guard was doing a double take at them and preparing for a chase. In a moment of absolute genius, Vanya focused her powers into the shop doors- feeling more confident in her control now more than last 2019- slamming them shut in the face of a bewildered security guard.

Klaus laughed like a madman, as they both rushed into a grotty alleyway a little way away from the crime scene clutching their stolen goods.

"What the _hell_ was _that?!_ " Her voice was breathless, yet she felt exhilarated, she hated to admit it, but that had been one of the most exciting moments of her life. She could feel the thrum of her powers in her chest as she took deep breaths, a painful smile lighting up her face.

" _That_ , dear Vanya, was how we steal clothes!" They were both leaning on opposite walls of the alleyway, giggling like school kids. Vanya suddenly sobered when she took notice of the time.

"Shit!" Klaus made a face at Vanya's sudden outburst.

"What?"

"The time! We took like an hour- shopping for _clothes_!" Klaus winced, guilt painting his features.

"Yeah, 'Shit's' the right term for that. It's ok. It'll take us like ten, maybe fifteen minutes to get back to the motel?" Vanya nodded swallowing thickly.

"Yeah let's get back to the motel as soon as possible."

As soon as Vanya stepped past the doorway of their motel room, her stomach absolutely sunk. The place was a mess- completely trashed. Klaus bumped into her back, yet she stayed frozen in shock.

"Hey? Vanya? You home?" She didn't respond, but she could feel Klaus go rigid as he leaned over her head, taking in the sight that had her stumped. Only he recovered much quicker. "Shit!" He stumbled past her, gently moving her to the side as he barreled through, "Five?! Fivey!? Are you here?!" He tossed sheets in a panic, bending down and peering under the small crawlspace of the beds. " _Nononononononono! Shit_! He's not here V! What the _fuck_ are we suppose to do!? _Shit_!"

Throughout his panic, all Vanya could see was the small splatters of red painting some of the floor beneath her feet, and the much larger splatter on the wall next to Five's bed. Klaus continued to swear, mumbling incoherently. She noticed him look up to her, then to where she was looking, putting two and two together. Worry noticeable in every line of his face, he stood up, making his way to her, embracing her smaller form in his long shaking limbs.

"Oh Vanya... It's alright ok? He's probably fine!" He pulled away ensuring she was looking him in the eyes, there were fat tears falling from them, a contrast to his words. "Knowing Five- the bloods probably the Sparrow Academy's!" He let out a harsh laugh, it sounded more like a sob than anything else. She hiccupped, tears were flowing freely from her own eyes as she tucked her head into Klaus' neck, both body's shuddering with painful sobs.

That was how a hobbling Diego- carried by a very unimpressed Allison- found them, although they had migrated to the floor by that point.

"What the fuck are you two doing?" The question held no animosity, but Diego's stern glare, was wiped from his face as Klaus looked up at them, eyes red and bloodshot from crying.

"F-Five- He's-" Klaus' voice trembled, not a hint of his usual cheekiness in sight. Vanya could practically feel Diego rushing past their crouched forms, a protest escaped Allison's lips, but even she knew how weak it was. Vanya peeked over Klaus' shoulder to see Diego limping through the motel, slamming doors, and kicking furniture in a much more violent echo of Klaus' reaction.

"What the fuck!" A slam. " _What the fuck!_ " A crash. " ** _What the fuck!_** " Luther squeezed through this time, bags and bags of groceries left discarded beside Allison. He manhandled Diego away from the kitchen coffee cups, Vanya had left out that morning. She never did make Five his black coffee like he asked- or anyone's coffees for that matter. They had all been too distracted by Five being _alert_ and _awake_.

"Diego! _Stop_ -!"

" _Let go of me!_ "

"Do you really want to do this? Again?" That seemed to stop Diego's thrashing, he just appeared dejected now. Luther gently let him go.

"We were only gone for two hours..." He squeezed his eyes shut, hands balled into fists at his side. "Two _f-fuckin'_ hours!" He trembled. "Why did we leave him alone!? For a goddamn genius he never thinks about himself does he?! The fucking idiot!"

"We'll find him, we just need to calm down, ok?" Allison seems to have recovered, a hand soothingly rubbing circles on Vanya's back.

"The good news is, we know who took him- _and_ we know where they are." Luther pointed out calmly beside Diego, although he wasn't wearing his usual _'I'm Number One so listen to me'_ expression, he was speaking on equal terms, trying to keep everyone grounded on the positives, give them something to do. "Now, we can sit here complaining, or we can figure out a way to get Five back. Your choice."

"I like the second option better." Klaus squeaked, twisting in Vanya's grasp to face the Umbrella Academy. "All in favour of finding Five?" Every hand shot up, all in equal amounts of exasperated amusement.

Diego looked everyone in the eye, seeing their determination. "Then we get that son of a bitch back."

Five listened to his siblings depart with a fond smile, each ranging from annoyed to excited, or Diego to Klaus. From his propped up position he could make out the five coffee cups sitting innocently on the kitchen bench beside the kettle. He glared at them, willing them to become sentient and make themselves into coffee with shear anger alone. He had asked for a _simple_ coffee, and instead just caused a damn scene. He felt uncomfortable, thinking back on how his siblings had reacted to his consciousness, they'd never acted like that around him before- worried, relieved at his presence, ready to listen. He sighed, that didn't really matter in the end, right now he needed coffee. That which eluded him, he hadn't had a decent cup since Elliot's place. He really should have asked him how he made his blend. Shit. Nothing was going his way, huh?

Gingerly, Five lifted his shirt, peering at the wound Diego had bandaged. Being honest, the night beforehand had been a complete and utter blur to Five, similar to nights where he drank himself silly in the apocalypse. He remembered begging for it all to be a dream, a childish imagination gone rogue and grotesque. Of course, every day he awoke to the familiar sight of death, carnage, debris, etc. For the first few months in the Commission he would startle awake to pristine walls and living, _breathing_ human beings. He shook the thoughts from his mind. Now wasn't the time for the long since gone past. He needed to remember what mattered.

Slowly memories of the Sparrow Academy, a knife and his fight with Luther trickled back into his mind. Similarly to a leaking tap it was slow-going and he spent a solid amount of time trying to catalogue the small details his mind was giving him. He'd forgotten to warn them about the guy who could apparently transfer injuries- or whatever the _fuck_ that was. Shit. Five hoped his idiot siblings could stay out of trouble for a few hours at least, so he could tell them. The more information they had on the Sparrow Academy's abilities, the better equipped they were for a fight.

Knowing Reginald, he probably found a thousand counters to each of their powers after he'd met them that fateful day in 1963. He'd had fifty-six years to figure it out after all and Five had handed him that on a silver platter. He should have only shown a few abilities, instead he gave the man their whole damn arsenal, along with their emotional weaknesses as well. Though, Five doubted it would have changed much, his siblings weren't the most private in hiding their daddy issues- and well- issues in general.

Nevertheless Five continued to bore a hole into the kitchen counter. Damn he wanted a coffee. Although he was _glad_ Allison had rumoured him, being forcefully kept awake when all his body wanted to do was sleep, wasn't the greatest feeling. His head was too fuzzy, too _heavy_. He dug his palms into his eyes, taking calming breaths to cease the ever-growing _wrongness_ of the situation. He needed to _think_. Plan ahead- and he couldn't do that of he was acting like a _child_ because of a small, insignificant discomfort. He could rest when his family was safe, until then he would just have to accept that sleep- and currently coffee- was an unattainable feat. For now.

As of the moment, Five knew four things.

First of all, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, world-renowned scientist and wealthy entrepreneur- Olympic Gold Medalist and overall eccentric billionaire- yada, yada, etc., met his future children in 1963, and after realising how dysfunctional they were, decided not to adopt them. Instead, he adopted six completely different children- Ben being the only exception as he wasn't present for the "dinner"- and named them the Sparrow Academy.

Secondly, Ben. Five furrowed his brow in thought, Ben threw a whole new spanner into the works. He obviously turned out differently in the new environment Reginald and the alternative siblings made for him, and not only that but he somehow survived longer than in the original timeline. Five felt a pang of guilt at the thought. When he had been in the Apocalypse and come across Vanya's book, buried beneath piles of dirt and rubble, he'd been ecstatic- Vanya, timid Vanya had written a book! Although, _finding_ the book and _reading_ it, were a completely different story altogether. He'd always wondered where Ben and Vanya's corpses had been. A part of him had both hoped and cried out at the idea of one or both of them surviving, together and safe in the hell he was beginning to call home. The book had trampled what little was left of Five's childish hopes. Ben had _died_ only four years after Five had left. Vanya's book never went into that great a detail on how it had happened, and Five had been torn between grateful and disappointed. He felt that as the one responsible for Ben's death, he shouldn't have the luxury of getting off so easily, not when he knew that his siblings must've had front row seats. How had Vanya reacted when only five children- that's right seventeen year-old's be damned, they were still _children_ \- arrived home, rather than six? Had Five stayed, he would have taken the burden off of Ben's shoulders- would've noticed him struggling with his powers. And although Five loved his siblings, he knew that they weren't the most observant of one another, not when it mattered anyway.

Shit. Five was getting off-track here. Anyway, the most notable thing about not-Ben's existence in this new timeline, is that they know his ability, his weaknesses. He wasn't sure if his siblings would be able to bring themselves to see Ben die again- let alone be the ones to kill him. So, Five decided, he would be the one to deal with Sparrow Ben when the time came- and he would do it where his siblings wouldn't have to watch. He wouldn't dare put them through that harrowing experience.

Thirdly, One of the Sparrows- black hair, glasses, he dutifully reminded himself- could, turn into a flock of birds? Or perhaps summon them? Although he hadn't seen her after they had appeared. So perhaps she could become them... In turn that raises the question, can she consciously control all of them? Or does her conscious transfer to one of them, while the others follow it's lead or orders? Five was gaining a headache from the logistics of this Sparrow members ability. If that was the case, would killing the host bird stop the rest? Would she die with it? And where does her body go when controlling them? perhaps if her body does truly stay after summoning the birds, killing it will trigger them to cease their attack? Maybe Diego and Allison might've figured some things out while they were being attacked... He'd ask them when they return.

Finally, the fourth thing was the man- or woman? He wasn't entirely sure- with the hideously deformed body. Five thought back to when he'd held the other's gaze, something twisted and broken in those eyes. There was no doubt that the member wasn't entirely sane, perhaps when transferring a wound from himself to another, he still felt the pain? Five shivered. If that were the case- growing up with Reginald- Five couldn't blame the poor kid. Although his ability just made killing him a whole lot harder than Five was happy with. If at all possible he would have to find a way to deal with him without his siblings in range of the power. That's if it _had_ a range. Perhaps eye-contact? But that was a stretch. If the power had no limitations in regards to how you get targeted, and who, then it would be nigh impossible to kill him without killing yourself. Five would easily find a high vantage point and blow the mans brains out from a hundred feet away, but unless he knew for a fact that the Sparrow member could or couldn't always have his power fixed on someone, then Five was risking killing either himself or his siblings. That brings the fact that he could affect multiple people at the same time...

A knock at the door interrupted Five's thoughts. He stiffened, why would his siblings have to knock if they had keys- and unless one of the idiots had lost them, they would have said something by now- no, whoever was behind the door wasn't someone he knew. Shit. Five ripped the covers from his aching body, fighting the black spots that filled his vision at the sudden movement and stood tense and ready. As the knocking stopped, Five inched back towards the kitchen, hand snatching a left over knife, thankfully his siblings hadn't cleaned up after themselves this morning- which although disgusted him, also ensured that he didn't need to worry about fumbling through drawers for a weapon.

The door burst from the hinges, revealing not-Ben, who appeared shocked to see Five alone and trembling from exhaustion in the motel kitchen. His shock quickly transformed into a grin. "Where're your big brother's and sister's?" He mocked, casually glancing around the room. Five snarled, fingers gripping the knife as he lowered his body. He wouldn't go down without a fight. "Did they leave you all alone? Dump you to keep you from holding them back?" something burned in Five's gut at seeing _Ben's_ face twist into that expression of malevolence, his voice taunting in such a _not_ -Ben way. The boy he knew was kind and understanding, not a bad bone in his body. But that was just it. This Ben wasn't their Ben. He hadn't grown up with them, he hadn't been the Ben to comfort each of his siblings after a particularly grueling training day. Hadn't patiently listened to Five's incessant theories on Time Travel and physics. Hadn't crept into Five's room every night that the Horror grew too much for him.

Perhaps the Ben of this timeline had had similar experiences, but Five honestly couldn't care less. This stranger threatened his family. There's no way in hell he's gonna get away with it. With that Five lunged, hands bursting blue- only to be met with nothing. They fizzled out, like a raging fire caught in a sudden downpour. He was powerless. His stumble was immediately used by the other, and before Five knew it, a tentacle had wrapped around his torso and flung him beside his bed. White hot pain took his breath away, and he could practically feel the stitches in his side tear. Ordinarily he should have passed out from pain by then, yet Allison's rumour remained strong, alongside his own fierce determination, keeping him blearily awake against his body's protests. Although being conscious and being alert were two _very_ different things. So through the pain and tiredness, Five struggled to even make out the blurry shapes in his vision, one particularly large blur seemed to approach him, crouching in the middle of his sight.

"You still awake? _Damn_ , I'm impressed. You hit your head pretty hard, and your side isn't lookin' too much better." The blur was speaking? It seemed to be searching for something on it's person, before reaching behind Five peripheral holding a long object. Five wanted to protest, but any words he wanted to portray were cut short at the sudden prick of something cold sliding into his neck, followed by a thick hot liquid being injected into him shortly after. Shit. He was being drugged. Five squirmed helplessly, mind determined not to go under, to no avail.

Allison's rumour could keep him from falling asleep of his own accord, however it appeared her abilities didn't go so far as to stop drugs from forcefully driving him into unconsciousness.

_Shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay a second chapter! Sorry it's a bit shorter than the last whoops. Also, I don't know if you've noticed... but I love writing Five's POV xD I realise it's probs not 100% accurate to his character, but I'm trying my hardest to keep each sibling in character. I feel like Klaus is just super easy and fun to write, I struggled a bit with Vanya, Allison and Luther though. But idk.
> 
> Thank you for reading the second chapter in this fic!


	3. Every Second is of Infinite Value

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Every second is of infinite value." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
> 
> Team Zero is gonna get their bro back.

Team Zero, formally the Umbrella Academy- but better- storm through a city they use to recognise as their own. Yet shop banners that they distinctly remember to be gold, or black, were suddenly red and blue. But whatever actions they made in 1963 to make this occur, weren't a priority in Diego's mind. For all he cared the world could burn in another Apocalypse or Doomsday. His one-track mind was focused solely on rescuing his brother and kicking some Sparrow ass.

"Is this really a good idea?!" Vanya's voice strained to be heard above the wind licking past Diego's ears. His head twisted to meet her anxious gaze, stride not lessening in the slightest.

"It doesn't matter if it's a good idea or not, the bastards stole _our_ bastard, so we're getting him back one way or another!" Allison gave Diego an unimpressed look before turning to Vanya beside her.

"No. It's an awful idea." Klaus' head snapped up at her remark, a grin lighting up his features.

"What do you mean Ally? It's a _great_ idea! We're just gonna waltz on in, find Five and drag his scrawny little butt back out! Easy!" Sarcasm was ever-present in his tone of voice, making Diego grind his teeth. Of course they hadn't necessarily laid down a whole battle plan and strategy as Five would have preferred, but all of them had agreed that they wanted Five out of Reginald's damn clutches sooner rather than later. So, they went with a simple plan- barge through the doors, take the enemy by surprise, find Five in the chaos they'd created and get him out. As simple as that. Although Allison and Klaus took every opportunity to remind him and Luther how stupid it was.

"We're using the element of surprise! We're not just _waltzing_ in." A strand of unkempt hair flew into Diego's eyes as he turned his gaze forwards once more. "For fucks sake!" He angrily brushed it aside, blinking the irritated tears from his eye. He was going to cut his goddamn hair after all of this.

Soon enough the Umb- _Sparrow_ Academy's overbearing figure came into view ahead of them. Diego squared his shoulders, and checked each of his siblings. Luther was just in front of him, and although he couldn't see his face, he was surely tense and ready for anything, much like the rest of them. Vanya was squeezing Allison's hand nervously, while Allison just gave her a reassuring smile. Klaus was- well... Diego had no idea what Klaus was doing. Was he stretching? Dancing? At Diego's staring Klaus just gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up, grinning like a moron.

"Everyone ready?" Luther's usually booming voice, was toned down to an awkward whisper.

"Yeah. We're good." Diego answered for the rest after making sure to get nods from each.

"Alright on three-"

"Alright on three-"

Diego and Luther were about to initiate a glaring match, when suddenly Klaus had barreled past, "Three bitches!" He slammed the door wide open, followed in by a very disgruntled Luther and Diego.

"Huh. I thought they'd come running at the first sign of trouble..." Luther glanced around, not a peep from the eerily silent mansion.

"Does that matter? Them not being here just makes our jobs that much easier." Diego strode up next to Luther, addressing the siblings. "Let's split into groups, fan out and look for Five."

"Actually... Wouldn't they have kept him in the basement?" Vanya piped up nervously. Diego blinked at that. Yeah that would make sense actually.

"Alright. New plan. Let's all head to the basement."

"Yay! A family field trip to the BDSM basement!" Everyone simultaneously gagged at Klaus' remark. "What? Is that not what it is?" Diego, followed by Allison, Vanya and Luther all eagerly moved past a confused Klaus, intent on ignoring him for now. "Hey! Wait for me!"

It didn't take Team Zero long to find the basement elevator and somehow, upon entering it, Luther and Vanya both grew tense. Oh, of course. _That_. Diego still felt he should have done more to help Vanya when Luther had locked her up. It hadn't been because he'd agreed with Luther on the whole thing, he just... Didn't know what to do. So he'd just decided to do nothing. He glanced at Klaus and Allison. He wondered what Klaus felt about the whole situation, had he wanted to help Vanya as well? Allison had at least tried to get past Luther- injured no less- more than what could be said for the rest of them. Then it hit Diego. Five hadn't even been there, where the hell had he been the entire time? All he knew was that Five arrived afterwards, a newspaper clutched in his hands, desperately trying to explain why the Apocalypse was still on, how they needed to stop Vanya. If Five had been there with them when Luther had locked her up... Would he have done something? Would he have jumped into her cell and let her out? They all knew Five had had a soft spot for Vanya (and Ben) when they were kids- even now Five spoke to Vanya differently than he would the rest of them.

The chiming 'ding' of the elevator interrupted Diego's thoughts, and he glared forward as the doors rattled open. They revealed a long hallway, however unlike the last time Diego had been there, this time, six rooms lined the walls, all numbered appropriately. The first room was labelled '00.01', the doors and walls were as thick as possible, a metal Diego didn't know the name of covered them. Diego wasn't even sure Luther would be able to- Shit! He sprinted towards the second room- labelled '00.02'- nothing sharp, nor loose, just plain walls. He looked to the next room- labelled '00.03'- a muzzle- a fucking muzzle- lay innocently on a table against the wall. Room '00.04' was similar to Diego's, plain. Surprisingly the next room had the numbers '00.07' instead of '00.05'. Diego almost snorted at the familiar sight of a soundproof room. Good to know the old man had made the same mistake as he had previously. Finally Diego approached the final door, tense and ready to see Five staring back- only upon looking into room '00.05' all he saw was another door.

"The fuck?" Diego was joined by the rest of his siblings, who seemed to have figured out the same thing he had.

"What is it?" Vanya questioned as she tried to sneak a peak past Diego's wide shoulders.

"A fucking door?"

"Yeah we know we're standing in front of a door, Diego. We're asking what's past it." Luther rolled his eyes.

"A door." Was Diego's dumbfounded response. Luther sucked in a frustrated breath.

"We _know_ that-" Diego groaned, moving aside a bit and pointing sternly at the strange door contraption on the other side of the glass.

"What the hell?" Luther's voice lost all anger and he tried turning the door handle, strangely met with no resistance. It creaked open on metal hinges, Diego cringed at the sound, glancing nervously back towards the elevator. No one. There was no sign of the Sparrow Academy. Once the door had stopped it's awful screeching, they all filtered into the room, hovering in front of the door. Now that Diego had a better look at it he realised it wasn't necessarily a door, just a hollow metallic box covered in wires and shit.

"What is it?" Allison peered forward, poking her head into it. "Hey, there's a button here labelled- uh... 'Hotel Oblivion'? Is that like a reference or something?"

"Fuck if I know." Diego squished past her, body fully in the 'door'. Sure enough there was only one button in the whole thing, although it was surrounded by various gauges that meant nothing to Diego. "Can't hurt to press it, right?"

"Uh, yeah it really can." Diego ignored Allison, instead pushing the button, body tense in expectation. Suddenly his vision was taken over by a bright white light, and when he could see again, he was peering down a bright hallway. It reminded him vaguely of 'The Shining' but without the famous floor pattern- and the blood, and creepy children. Each door was labelled like a hotel. He ducked back into the 'thing' realising that the button previously labelled 'Hotel Oblivion' had somehow changed to 'Sparrow Academy'. So it was a teleportation device of some kind? He shrugged as he pressed the button once more.

"-My god! He's dead!" He was greeted by Klaus' shrieks.

"I'm not dead."

"What the hell just happened?" Vanya looked close to tears.

"I think it's a teleporter, or something? I pressed the button and ended up in a 'Shining' wannabe hotel- I think."

"You think?" Diego just shrugged. "Diego you were gone for like a millisecond, how the hell did you even have time to take in your surroundings?" At Allison's words, Diego had to do a double take.

"What? Don't exaggerate Allison, I was gone for a solid minute or so."

"She's not exaggerating Diego, all we saw was a blinding light and you hadn't even moved." Diego furrowed his brows at Luther. How does that even make sense?

"No- I'm positive I was in there for longer than a _millisecond_."

"Maybe there's some kind of time dilation going on here?" Everyone turned to Vanya, she shrunk under the attention, but recovered quickly, "I-I mean, the time in Hotel Oblivion might be slower than our time? I don't know how it works, but it's just a theory?"

"If what your saying is true, than how much slower is it?" Everyone looked blankly from Luther to the teleporter.

"It doesn't matter. Five's probably in there somewhere, and from what I saw there are a _lot_ of rooms. So we should probably get moving if we want to find him before the Sparrow Academy comes back." They each piled into the contraption, groaning and moaning as they were forced to squish against each other uncomfortably. Klaus' hand shakily maneuvered itself past Luther's large form and hit the button, but not before accidently bumping the needle for one of the many gauges. Once they'd arrived they all stumbled- or more accurately fell- out. Diego and Klaus were up first.

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Klaus giggled the familiar line, causing everyone to groan and roll their eyes fondly. Klaus would always be Klaus. "Hey! It _is_ like the Shining!"

"Alright, Luther. You stay here and make sure the Sparrow Academy doesn't try and sneak up on us while we're looking for Five, ok?" Diego spoke once everyone had reoriented themselves. Klaus gave Diego a wide grin.

"What- so I don't have to be lookout this time?" Diego ignored him, instead ready for Luther's inevitable explosion.

"You're making me lookout?! The hell Diego?!"

"I'm just saying that if the Sparrow Academy follows us, you're the best person to be here for it. Your skins a bit tougher than the rest of us, and with your super strength, you'd be able to outrun them as well." He knew it had worked as soon as Luther's posture had relaxed, he couldn't argue with reason after all.

"Fine."

"Let's look for our brother."

The search ended up being a _lot_ harder than Diego had first assumed. There were way too many empty rooms! What kind of hotel was this? Never mind the fact that the hallway seemed to stretch on forever. He was beginning to give up on the thought that Five might be there at all. Was it just a trap? Getting them to ceaselessly search for a brother that wasn't even there in the first place, for all eternity? A routine slowly developed in Diego's mind, moving on auto-pilot.

Next door, turn the knob, slam it open, call for Five, quick search, next door, turn the knob, slam it open, call for Five, quick search, next door- and so on and so on. Soon enough he was doing it without thinking, the actions ingrained into his hardware. Diego didn't need to look to his siblings to know that they were probably feeling the same as him about the whole situation. Hopeless.

Diego sighed for the thousandth time as he walked to the next door, turn the knob, turn the knob- wait what? Suddenly Diego was finding a resistance. A smile ripped across his face, and he turned breathless to his siblings.

"This one's locked! Get your asses over here!" He didn't wait for them to come running, as he was already picking the lock, a hopeful giddiness dancing in his chest. It slammed open and all the siblings eagerly searched for Five's form in the room. Diego barely had time to take in the chalk covered walls, and trashed furniture, before Vanya was rushing past him, towards- _Five_.

All the breath in Diego's lungs seemed to vanish at the sight of Five, _alive_ and sitting on the edge of the large bed in the center of the room. Five hadn't even acknowledged them, brows furrowed and chewing on his lip as he bore a hole in the book he held in his lap. However, as soon as Vanya had reached him, she enveloped him in a desperate hug, startling him out of whatever trance he'd gotten himself stuck in. The book flew from his grasp, and his hands awkwardly hovered, as if held back by an invisible force field surrounding Vanya. Reluctantly she let go, kneeling in front of him, a gentle hand on his bony knee. He looked completely and utterly shocked, glancing between each of them with a painful kind of astonishment. Did he really think they'd just leave him? He seemed to recover from his own initial reaction however, clearing his throat and scowling- yet there was a fond amusement behind his eyes.

"What took you so long?" The words weren't biting, they held no venom, just a playful jest that seemed to pierce each siblings hearts simultaneously (except for Luther of course). Vanya smiled past the sob that caught in her throat. They were all blanketed by a feeling of intense relief, Five was _ok_.

He turned his gaze towards Allison, something desperate hiding behind his usual nonchalance. "Could you undo your rumour?"

"Of course!" Allison looked guilty.

_"I heard a rumour that you could sleep again."_

Five's eyes immediately drooped before shooting back open. Although he appeared relieved at regaining the ability to sleep, Five also looked incredibly disgruntled at the exhaustion lining his eyes. His mouth opened as it to say something in his usual sarcastic way, yet a sudden look of desperation flashed across his face- Diego could have sworn he'd seen the slightest blue at his fingertips- before the moment was gone, a simple flicker of a candlewick and Five bolted to his feet.

"You need to get out of here." He was suddenly ushering them out of the room, much to everyone's confusion.

"What? _Why?_ " Allison stood her ground beside Diego, Five's hands still, ceasing his vain efforts of physically moving them. He smiles up at her- too toothy, it's more of a grimace, a lion bearing it's fangs- his head tilts in obvious frustration.

" _Because,_ " He stresses the word in a way that makes it seem like the answer is obvious and he's forced to spell it out for children. "The Sparrow Academy's coming, and when they do-" He cuts himself off, swallowing hard before continuing, "You just gotta' trust me on this one, ok?"

Diego blinks, nodding. Although his heads a big question mark of confusion currently, he trusts Five. And if Five's saying their evil doppelgangers are on the way, he's gonna listen to him. It's about time someone has after all. "Alright. Let's go. Come on." He waves Five to his side. Only. Five's giving him that look, somehow it's both a mixture of annoyed and frustrated, yet distressed. He hasn't moved from his position next to the bed.

"I can't go with you." Diego's blood boils, but Five seems to notice and holds up a hand. "I mean I _physically_ can't go with you." All at once Diego's boiling blood cools too quickly and his heart is throbbing painfully in his chest. Five continues again, "If I pass the doorway, it shocks me."

Shit. How were they suppose to get past that? "Can't we just push you past it?" Five winces in return to Allison's question.

"No, the electricity will keep shocking me even past the barrier. It would kill me after a few minutes." Five's tone is too cold for his words, like mentioning how he could _die_ wasn't at all terrifying.

"Wait- so how do we get you out?" Diego stares into Five's calculating gaze, there's something in it that Diego absolutely despises. A part of him knows the answer he's about to get from his smaller brother.

"You can't. Not yet anyway." Klaus stands in Diego's peripherals, up until then he'd been eerily quiet. Now however, the most accurate term to use would be he was flipping the fuck out.

"But we just found you! We can't just- just _leave_ you here!" Klaus' voice was too high, panic lacing every word.

"Yes you are. I'll be fine- I've survived this long haven't I?"

"Yeah a couple hours." Allison supplied. For the first time since Five had acknowledged their presence in the hotel room, confusion flickered across his face, this time however the flame was completely smothered, the smoky residue remaining in memory only, as once again he closed his expression off.

"It doesn't matter, _ok_? Luther's gonna come around that corner any minute now, and by then we won't have time for this!" He emphasised his last word with a surprisingly weak shove to Diego's chest. He was still trying to force them out of the room.

It was then that they heard it. Heavy footfalls barreling towards them. "Allison! Diego!" Allison rushed past Diego towards the door, waving at the unseen figure of Luther. "They're here! The Sparrow Academy!" Five's face lost all colour.

"Shit!" At Five's curse, Luther stared, just as relieved to see him as they had been.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go." He was grinning like a moron, hands outstretched as if waiting for Five to jump them out. Diego groaned, having forgotten Luther hadn't been present for the whole conversation. His heart stopped at the sound of muffled footsteps echoing Luther's earlier ones. They were running out of time, he needed to protect Five- he was still injured after all. However Five's slender fingers gripped Diego's shirt, forcing him to look down, Five's eyes were alight in reassurance, a smirk pulling at his mouth. Five had a plan. _Five had a plan!_ Hell yes!

So in that moment Diego spared no time holding onto Allison, nodding for her to do the same with Vanya and so on. Although Allison had done as instructed, she wasn't as easily convinced at Five's expression alone. "What happened? Did you figure out how to leave?"

"Yeah. Something like that." She only frowned at the wording, skeptical. Five rolled his eyes, "Don't worry. I'll get you guys out of here. _Safely._ " Diego's gut twisted at that. Why did he feel like he wasn't understanding something important? It felt like Five knew an inside joke nobody else understood and was flaunting it in confidence. "This might hurt." The next part was whispered brokenly, "Sorry."

The feeling of a hundred vaults crackling through Diego's body both interrupted and answered his unasked question, _'What do you mean?'_. The feeling was gone just as quickly as it had arrived and suddenly Diego found himself falling onto a... sidewalk?

"F-fuck!" Diego groaned as he rolled onto his stomach, he must've landed on his foot wrong because the shock from before was quickly replaced with a horrible throbbing in his ankle. His twitching muscles strained to help him get up, at least he had been right, they were on a sidewalk, cars moving to and fro on the road before them. "What the fuck Five?!" He whirled around, only to be met with four whining siblings squirming uselessly on the ground rather than the five he had been expecting. Klaus was draped over Luther's large form, looking positively green from the jump. Luther was wheezing, winded- most likely from having another person land on top of him. Vanya and Allison were helping one another to their feet, the wall aiding them.

Five was no where to be seen. All at once his words echoed with a shockingly clear clarity in Diego's head, _'I'll get_ you _guys out of here."_ His stomach sank, all earlier thoughts swept from his mind. His head whipped around, scanning the street uselessly for a teenager in that familiar uniform. "Five!" All he got in response were perturbed glances from passerby's. "Five you bastard! Where are you?!" an icy silence was his only answer. "F-fucking shit! I'm gonna kill him!"

"Where's Five?" Vanya's eyes surveyed everyone, an innocent frown accompanying her features.

"Where do you think!?" He got a glare from Allison at the biting tone directed towards Vanya, he didn't care. "The damn bastard tricked us!" Confusion flickered across her face.

"Wh-what are you saying?"

"He didn't jump with us Vanya. He's still fucking there! With the _fucking Sparrows!_ "

"Calm down Diego!"

"Don't tell me to calm down Allison! He was right there! Right _f-fucking_ there! We could've figured out a way to bring him with us if we just had more damn time!" He punctuated his words by violently punching the wall beside him.

"W-wait- why didn't Five jump with us?" Luther, the moron was now sitting upright- Klaus had relocated to the ground next to him, leaning against the wall with his legs crossed- scratching the back of his neck.

"He said something about an electric shock if he did?" Vanya screwed her eyes shut in an attempt to remember Five's exact words.

"Yeah. Fivey seemed to be _pretty_ confident about what would happen if he left the room." Klaus tacked on, Luther only furrowed his brows, staring between the two stupidly.

Diego continued to seethe in silence. "It doesn't matter, we need to find a place to gather our thoughts." Allison, ever the responsible one of the group interrupted.

"We can't go back to the old one, they know about it." Vanya pointed out, barely suppressing a wince at the reminder of their trashed motel room.

"Wait- but what about Fivey?"

"We'll figure something out," There was a vulnerable softness to Allison's tone in that statement. "but we can't do it here. We're basically sitting ducks for an attack."

Diego didn't bother arguing, too mentally exhausted from the rollercoaster of emotions he's been forced to ride. It was hard to believe that just this morning he had been waiting for Five to wake up and tell them what to do. Somehow he had lost his brother twice in the same goddamn day. Night had long since past since they'd come barging through the Sparrow doors.

Time seemed to flow too fast and too slow past Diego and soon enough he found himself standing behind his siblings as they checked into a _much_ nicer hotel. His body moved on autopilot as they ascended the floors in the elevator and filed into their large new room. They'd chosen a much more popular establishment then the last. Most likely so that the Sparrow Academy wouldn't be able to easily cause as big a mess as they had last time. Luther must have grabbed their items from their shopping trip earlier, because he was loading most of it into the fridge and pantry, the rest laid out ready for a dinner large enough for all of them. Allison- the most skilled out of all of them in cooking- had already begun putting it all together. Diego plopped onto the nearest surface- a double bed- numbly, watching her float across the kitchen with a mesmerising ease.

"Do you think he's had anything to eat?" Diego almost jumped at how close Klaus' voice had been to him. He twisted around to find him sitting against the backboard of the bed, fiddling with a stray thread on his shirt, eyes downcast. No one needed to ask who he was talking about. "I don't think I've seen him eat since he first arrived in 2019- or last 2019? And he didn't have breakfast this morning either..." He trailed off, biting his lip nervously, "Then again... I haven't seen much of him at all."

A sob from the kitchen caught everyone's attention. Vanya was crouched in front of an open cabinet- an open cabinet holding mugs. Allison immediately left the pan sizzling with chicken behind- which Luther scurried to watch over in her stead- she sank next to Vanya's shaking form. "H-he really wanted a coffee when he woke up- it was the first thing he said! And I still didn't make him one..." She blinked tears from her eyes as she looked into Allison's, "Do you think he- he hates me?"

Diego turned away from the conversation, ignoring Allison's reassurances. He didn't want to think about that morning.

An hour later and they were all sitting down for a solemn dinner. Luther looked up, eyes catching Diego's before he could avert them. "How's your leg?" He asked around a mouthful of food.

"It's fine." Was the very disgruntled answer. Allison looked doubtful.

"From what I saw on our way here, it wasn't." He glared at her as he stuffed a sauce covered piece of chicken into his mouth. She looked unimpressed, "You were _limping_ , Diego."

Diego was about to nicely tell Allison to 'Fuck off.' when Klaus desperately looked up, "Did Five look different to you guys? Or was that just me?" the words burst from his mouth as if he had been debating on whether or not to mention it. He didn't even seem to notice the conversation he had just completely steered off course. _That_ seemed to shatter the rising tension in the room leaving the pieces to crumble into confusion.

"What do you mean Klaus?" Vanya spoke up, voice soft as she gave Klaus her full attention. He looked nervously between them all, like a child about to give a public speech.

"I mean... Didn't his hair look longer?" At their blank faces he quickly continued, "Not just because it was all messy! Like actually longer? It was definitely past his ears! I swear he was taller too!" He was growing frantic now, Diego knew he was worried they didn't believe him, but he needed a moment to try and think back towards the Hotel Oblivion room.

"Give me a sec." The more he thought about it, the more details he realised that he had overlooked. Five had definitely been taller, not past Diego's own height, but taller nonetheless. The chalk he had seen briefly on the walls- there's no way Five could have covered it all in a few hours. Although Diego's memory was very hazy, he could have sworn there had been a few tally marks. Were they a part of Five's usual calculations...? "Yeah. You're right Klaus. How the fuck...?"

"The- the time dilation!" Vanya's eyes were bright with the idea. "Remember how Diego went in the- the thing first? And he said he was in it for a few minutes, but for us it was like he never left, right?" She got a few encouraging nods, "So, there's the chance that Five could have been in Hotel Oblivion for longer than a few hours." Something clicked in Allison's head.

"Wait! You could be right Vanya!" If Vanya's eyes could light up anymore, he's sure she would destroy the moon again. "When I told him he'd only been gone a few hours, he was confused! He mustn't have realised." The both looked positively giddy at the revelation.

"Yeah that's cool and all, but wouldn't that mean that Five was waiting for weeks- maybe months for us to get him?" Diego's words seemed to sober the girls up, as their excitement died immediately.

Luther hurried to remedy the quickly descending miserable situation, "But we don't know the time difference! It could have only been a few days!"

"You don't get taller in a couple of days Luther." Diego deadpanned. It wasn't that he purposely wanted to be the bad guy and depress the atmosphere further. He was just trying to be realistic. Klaus looked around the table nervously.

"So... How long _has_ it been for Five?"

No one had an answer for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, I completely forgot to add a chapter title and summary xDD sorry about that.


	4. The Bad News is Time Flies. The Good News is You're the Pilot.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." - Michael Altshuler
> 
> Five's POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I should count this as a warning- but Major Character Death (it's not permanent), but I do describe dead bodies, so if anyone has a problem with that I'm just warnin' ya, it happens around the second half of the Chapter- you'll know if when you come up to it.

When Five came to he was slumped awkwardly on his back in a very unfamiliar room. Almost every muscle in his body protested his movements to sit up and properly take in his new surroundings, but in true Five fashion, he ignored it with a stubborn scowl. His first thoughts were on his family- were they safe? Did not-Ben or the other Sparrows find them as well? His second thought was on escaping. Somehow his all-knowing father had forgotten something incredibly simple- Five could teleport. So with a grin he summoned his powers ready to find his siblings, only instead of actually _going_ anywhere he was practically clotheslined with the shock of a hundred volts surging through his body.

Once he'd let his powers go, the electricity came to a screeching halt, leaving him twitching, exhausted on the scratchy carpeted floor. "Sh-shit."

Five was forced to blink dizzying black spots from his vision, and once again he stumbled to stand back up, this time settling onto the large bed in the centre of the room. He could feel something sticky coming through his clothes, drenching his side uncomfortably. Upon looking down he experienced a wave of déjà vu. His wound had re-opened. Fuck. Although Five knew very little- an intolerable fact that honestly scared him a bit- about the Sparrow Academy and the new version of their father, he doubted they would care enough to come barging through the door just to help him not die of blood loss.

A pristine white towel sat modestly upon the end of the bed he was situated on, with little regard to the state of the room, he reached over, ignoring the wince he gave at the movement and grasped it in his numbing fingers. He roughly pressed the towel to his side to stem the bleeding before scanning the room for a first aid kit. His eyes stopped their roaming as they locked onto a white box hanging from the wall behind him.

Summoning every bit of willpower in him, he hobbled over to it- mostly using the bed to help him along while keeping the towel firmly pressed on his wound. The hardest part of the endeavour was taking the First Aid kit off the harness that stuck it to the wall. His side protested the pulling movement he was forced to use in order to dislodge it- realistically if he'd hadn't been slightly delirious from blood loss, he would have realised there were small latches holding the box in place. However, he wasn't necessarily in his right mind, therefore once he'd somehow freed the kit he toppled backwards from the momentum. Back slamming painfully against the metallic frame of the bed as he landed awkwardly on the floor next to it. The towel lay discarded somewhere beside him, but he didn't care, instead he resigned to opening the kit in his incredibly uncomfortable position against the bed. He didn't even have the strength to move his legs, let alone stand.

His fingers struggled to loop the thread through the needle he'd found within the box. Eventually, after many frustrated growls and a minor tantrum involving throwing the rolled gauze at the wall in front of him and having it ricochet back onto his face, he managed it. He didn't waste time celebrating however, he could already feel pins and needles creeping through his legs and the tips of his fingers, he fumbled with his buttons and revealed the wound on his side. Unfortunately, it was in a very awkward spot where he would need to crane his neck uncomfortably in order to properly see what he was doing.

He began stitching it up, all in all he only winced a few times and managed to close the wound without any real issue. Fortunately for him, the gauze that had previously thrown- and gotten hit in the head with- had rolled close enough for him to grab and wrap around his stomach. After securing it tightly around his mid-section he slumped further against the bed frame. He was absolutely exhausted.

For the first time in two weeks he felt he deserved the rest, he eased his eyes closed and waited for sleep to wash over him.

He waited, and waited. Yet no matter what his brain stayed stubbornly awake. He was about to curse his insufferable insomnia, when it hit him. Allison's rumour was still in affect. He groaned, the palms of his hands digging painfully into his eyes, before dropping his arms like deadweights at his sides, leaving him to blink black spots from his vision in their wake. He sat still, a corpse in between a sort of tired awareness. It took him approximately six hours and thirty-seven minutes to finally get back on his feet. From his internal clock- something he had gotten used to calculating in the Apocalypse to the point of doing it unconsciously- it had been six hours and fifty-nine minutes since he'd awoken in- well, where ever the hell he was. That wasn't counting how long he'd been unconscious. He could have been out for hours, possibly even days.

He stumbled towards the door, hand firmly held against his side protectively. Stupidly he tried turning the doorknob- confused when he was met with resistance. He turned it again eyes squinting and brows furrowing in frustration. His hand jiggled the knob more desperately in his growing anger.

"For-" He stepped back, "Fuck-" His leg swung back, soaring forward and meeting the ridiculously solid door, "Sake!"

His toes cried out in pain, but he ignored them, instead glowering at the door his hands clenched. He huffed defeated and stalked back to the bed, flopping onto it and just glaring at the ceiling. He felt like a child in that moment, sent to his room for misbehaving.

Five thought back to that morning. His chest warmed with an unfamiliar feeling at recalling his siblings rushing to his side. A smile- a genuine smile of happiness- spread across his face, it was a stark contrast to his previous expression and the feeling was entirely foreign. He rested his arm across his eyes, hiding the stinging tears from sight, he couldn't help the bubble of laughter from escaping his throat. He thought the action might come across as a sign of madness, but he didn't care.

"Just this once," The words were a small whisper, "Just this once, I'll wait for you idiots to save me." He was tired, too tired to try and escape- and even if he could find a way to leave on his own, he wouldn't make it very far in his condition. Knowing them, it'd probably take a few days before he'd be free from whatever prison he was stuck in. He'd wait for them, they may be brain dead idiots, but they were also his siblings- siblings who could be so goddamn stubborn that by the end of the week Five's certain the Sparrow Academy would be glad to hand him over and stop their maddening, ceaseless stupidity.

A week past agonizingly slowly. Five had eagerly counted every second, prepared for his siblings to burst through the rooms door, bumbling like the halfwits they were, at any second. It was during the third day of that week that 'it' happened. Of course 'it' in this case was not his rescue, instead it had almost been his demise.

Five intimately knew the signs of infection well, particularly that of necrotizing fasciitis. Perks of living in an apocalyptic wasteland he supposed. So when he was overtaken by a violent dizziness, which led to half an hour of vomiting, only sixty-four hours into his 'stay', he had a good idea of what the cause was. Sure enough as Five unbuttoned his shirt, unwrapped his- rather haphazard job- of gauze from his wound, he wasn't surprised by the sight that greeted him.

The area around his wound was a sunburnt red, the affected skin pulled tight. He bit the inside of his cheek in an attempt to stop the curses building up in his throat. This was not good.

Of course he should've known that stubbornly ignoring his injury- putting off cleaning it and acting as if it didn't exist- would lead to this. It was with the discovery of the infected wound itself that brought an intense clarity to the rest of his body. His head was pounding- surely the beginnings of a fever he was familiar with- he could feel the nausea, the full-body fatigue... Shit. All signs pointed directly to it. The good thing was, Five had been through the exact same scenario before, granted it was in a wasteland void of anything remotely helpful. The bad thing was, Five was not looking forward to what he was going to have to do, nor what would inevitably follow.

He nervously scratched the back of his neck as he paced the room. Five vaguely understood that the action was purely to delay the inescapable. Unless, of course, he wanted his body to slowly be eaten by a flesh-eating disease, with no guarantee of his siblings coming to help him in the time it took to do so. He stopped in the middle of the room, turning towards the bed he had already prepped with the few medical instruments he could find in the first aid kit. He'd had to improvise with the scissors, taking them apart to use one side as a makeshift scalpel- sharpening it to the best of his ability.

Shit. He was really doing this again, wasn't he?

As Five sat on the end of the bed, hands already moving on their own, preparing his wound and the tools he would need, he was forced to blink back ash from his eyes. _They caught on his eyelashes and in his long unkempt hair. Five ignored them in favour of studying the cut on his shin that he had gotten a few days back, when he had been scavenging in someone's garage- looking for tools that hadn't been destroyed beyond repair. Usually any injury he sustained was cleaned immediately, the risks of infection too high with nothing of help in the area, should it get life-threatening. This one however, had been so small he had naïvely forgone his usual routine._

_The small cut he had flippantly ignored a few days ago had evolved into a large red bump, the pain unbearable. For all of Reginald's survival lesson's, Five had not expected the man to leave out diseases that- well, that looked like whatever the hell Five had been staring at for the past hour. By some miracle, it didn't take Five long to find a- still intact- medical book that detailed his very situation. 'Necrotizing Fasciitis' or the 'flesh-eating disease'- he cringed at the implications of that name- is an infection that results in the death of parts of the body's soft tissue. He skimmed through the paragraphs explaining the various ways to get the disease, stopping only at words that spread icicles through his chest. 'Treatment: Antibiotics to be administered directly to the patients veins, followed by surgery in order to remove the infected tissue from the patient.'_

_Five would remember the moment he had read that sentence with disdain. If he could, he would have travelled back to his past self just to beat some sense into him. Of course, future Five was much older and had experienced much worse both in and out of the apocalypse, so he could- somewhat- forgive his fifteen year-old self for spending precious seconds re-reading the aforementioned sentence and panicking like an idiot._

_Fortunately for him, life was cutting him some slack, and the next morning, a packet of antibiotics lay on top of a pharmacy counter- one he had been sure he'd emptied out. The box was pristine, free from the dirt and ash that seemed to coat anything within and outside of it's clutches. He'd almost assume the fever had caused hallucinations, had he not sat at his base staring at it for a solid three hours. Turning it in his hands like a gift from fucking god._

_He would take that comment back in a heartbeat had he known the reason behind his sudden stroke of luck._

_As the scalpel, he had collected a few months prior, first dug into the skin around the infection, Five had immediately flinched. Not only was the very act of mutilating his own leg a thought that made him physically ill, but the pain caused from the infection had made his entire leg sensitive as fuck. His eyes blurred from tears, yet he persevered, he willed his shaking hands to still, as he continued the painfully slow process of removing the infected tissue. Five was no doctor- he was fifteen for fucks sake- but even he knew that what he was doing should be done in a more sterile environment, not in an ashen wasteland, where hygiene was thrown out the window. He'd done his best, found a stable surgical room in a nearby hospital and cleaned it up as much as he could. Of course, that didn't stop the cockroaches from crawling their way in and observing the harrowing entertainment of a boy performing his own surgery._

_Once he'd finished, he drenched the exposed flesh in as much disinfectant as he could, not bothering to hide his gasps at the stinging sensation it caused. Five secured the limb in layers, upon layers of gauze, and just- sat._

_It had finally hit him, much too late, that he was well and truly alone. No one would be there to pick him up, patch his wounds and assure him that 'everything will be ok' if he fell. Everyone was dead. His siblings were dead. The world had been reduced to piles of bodies and rubble, blanketed in the ashy remains of fires. And he was the lonely observer, a bystander to experience the aftermath of the worlds final 'fuck you' to humanity._

_He hugged himself as he cried, hoping for any kind of warmth the cold world could bring him. He lost time of how long he had sat in that sterile room, crying like a pathetic child. Dolores was waiting for him as he hobbled back to his base some time later, he ignored her worried calls as he curled up on his thin and broken mattress. For a whole week he lay fever-ridden and pale in his base. The antibiotics were the only thing keeping him from eternal rest. He told himself, every night as he took a tablet- slowly deteriorating- that he had to live. For his family. He couldn't allow the tragedy he lived in to occur. He would find a way to get back to his family, and together they would stop the apocalypse._

When Five came back to himself, he'd already finished patching his wound. He blinked slowly, unsettled by how easy it had been to disassociate and move on auto-pilot. The only sign that he had actually performed the surgery, was the throbbing pain that accompanied it. Painkillers could only go so far after all.

For the remainder of the week, he was stuck in a horrible limbo of sorts. Allison's rumour continued to do it's job vigilantly, and Five's sudden fever continued to leave him agonizingly weak and immobile. The two constantly worked against one another, leaving Five utterly exhausted. He knew his body needed- begged for sleep, yet he couldn't rest even if he wanted to.

He slowly began to give up on the idea of a rescue, chalking the very thought up to a product of his initial delirium. A horrifying thought came with that conclusion, _'what if they don't care?'_ The more he thought about it, the more he realised that his siblings needed him rather than wanted him. He was the only one with any knowledge on timelines and time- it was literally his power. He scoffed, ignoring the lump obstructing his throat, at his earlier misplaced happiness. He was foolish to think that he could leave their lives for seventeen years and come back as if nothing changed- as if he could become a part of the family again. He was a fifty-eight year-old man for fucks sake. He shouldn't be upset about something so stupidly logical. Then... Why did the thought of being hated by the ones he dedicated his life to, hurt so fucking much?

At one point, he had staggered to his feet and banged on the door with all his might- which was pathetic at best- demanding chalk or a fucking sharpie. He wasn't sure when it had happened, but when he'd finally gathered enough strength again to repeat his demands, he was surprised to find a box of chalk sitting at his feet. Thus began his accumulation of tally marks, each representing a day he'd been stuck in the shit-hole of a room. Seven shaky lines mocked him from their spot on the wall in his room. On the opposite wall he began his overdue calculations. If he couldn't sleep, he may as well do something useful.

That was when he made the second discovery on Allison's rumouring ability. Apparently there was only so long the body could go without sleep, before it entered 'shut-down' mode. Or perhaps it was more similar to a miniature coma of sorts? Whatever it was, it was capable of overpowering Allison's rumour, to which Five was extremely grateful. The first time it had happened, he'd been ecstatic. Allison's rumour had finally lost it's affect! He'd been so relieved he hadn't even been at all frustrated by the time he'd lost. The rest of the day had been spent working on equations, and thoughts of finally falling into a decent sleep- nothing drug-induced or coma-based.

Unfortunately, that had made the act of finding out Allison's rumour had just been dormant in his coma state, only resurfacing upon his awakening, all the more torturous. For most of Five's life in the apocalypse, sleep had been a necessity taken at regular intervals. Whether those intervals were short or long, didn't matter, as long as his body had rested and he could continue with the day. In the Commission he had pushed it aside in favour of finding out how to get back to his family without the help of a briefcase. In the two weeks he spent trying to stop two doomsday's he had given up on it entirely. Sleeping only when drunk and drained of blood. Now he would give his right arm to get even a _decent fucking hour's-worth._

He found he could go mostly a week or two before his body would 'shut-down', hours or even days were lost without him even knowing. He marked the walls with a cross after every 'shut-down' because he had no accurate way of figuring out how long he would be out for. It was his only indication of lost time in his room without windows or sounds.

Every week Five attempted to teleport, only to be met with the same result as he had in his initial attempt on the first day. His room was completely power-proof. Not one inch of the 326 square feet (30.2864 square meters) had a weak point. Once he had properly regained his strength, he'd used every piece of furniture to destroy the door, with no luck. It was solid, and although Five was loathe to admit it, being stuck in his thirteen year-old body didn't exactly help him in any way.

Five opened his eyes groggily, his head was killing him from where he must have hit it during his 'shut-down' and he tried his best to massage the area in hopes of easing the pain. Once he had regained his footing, Five picked up a discarded piece of chalk and lethargically made his way towards his tally-full wall. As he placed the cross he stepped back, taking in each shaky or precisely straight line that made up the peeling wallpaper. It had been a year, four months and a week. It was fine. He'd survived much longer in the apocalypse, where food was harder to come by and every step could mean your last. His room now had a fridge and pantry that never ran out of food.

At one point he had tried to stay awake as long as possible to find out how they had refilled it without him knowing. Of course, his 'shut-downs' weren't exactly amicable.

He returned to the side of his bed, pulling out a notebook and pen- of which he had been surprised he was allowed- and continued his equations. He had to be close now, there was no doubt in his mind. unfortunately, his thought process was cut short by the sound of the door knob jiggling, an awful metallic clacking. There was a shout and- oh. Five had finally lost it, because that was Diego's voice, muffled as it was. He sighed, turning back to the book in his lap a stern frown of concentration keeping him from acknowledging the now 'open' door. So it wasn't just an auditory hallucination then? He chewed his lip in thought for what that meant for his sanity.

Once again, however, he was interrupted. This time by a very much alive and _real_ Vanya. She'd enveloped him in a tight hug, causing his book to tumble to the ground.

For the first time in awhile, Five was shocked. His sister was hugging him, yet all he could do was hover his hands awkwardly over her back. He dared not touch her. He feared in doing so, he would only cause her to crumble to dust. Eventually- too soon- Vanya released him, her hand placed reassuringly on his knee, and oh how she could probably feel more bone than flesh. He was embarrassed to realise that he'd forgotten to eat most days. Finally he tore his gaze from her hand and looked each of his siblings in the eyes. Diego, Allison and Klaus were stood an emotion clear on all their faces. Relief.

Five suddenly realised he hadn't said a word and cleared his throat, his usual scowl sliding on his face with ease. He was going to make the idiots pay for the late rescue. Although he couldn't keep the joy from his eyes at the very sight of them.

"What took you so long?" The tension vanished in a second, and he vaguely heard a choked sob leave Vanya's mouth. He didn't give them time to respond, instead addressing Allison, "Could you undo your rumour?"

It wasn't as if he wanted to fall asleep immediately, he just needed the unnaturally _wrong_ feeling of the rumour to leave and give some clarity to his thoughts. He did, however, cringe at Allison's guilt-ridden expression.

"Of course!"

_"I heard a rumour that you could sleep again."_

His whole body sagged, the exhaustion built up from a little over a year crashing over him as a tidal wave. He hadn't realised his eyes had drooped until he was forcing them back open desperately and he re-addressed his siblings through angry fatigue.

"I assume you idiots have a well-thought through plan of getting out of here?" He stood tiredly and crossed his arms. At Diego's puzzled look, he groaned, "I mean you've had plenty of time to figure something out right?" He received only a blank look. "We're not just running out of here hoping not to die... _Right?"_ He tapped his foot impatiently.

"Bro, we barely had time to think of a plan. So unless you've got something better...?"

Five paused at that. _Barely?_ What did that even _mean?_

"Unfortunately, no. Haven't really had the greatest room service here. Where the fuck are we by the way?" The question had been gnawing at his head since he first arrived.

"Uh... Hotel Oblivion? We think." He looked to Klaus, who was scratching his head, a guilty look on his face. "We just came here in a weird teleporty-thingy?"

That took Five by surprise. Had Reginald found a way to engineer his ability into a device that anyone could use? The thought sickened him. In the eyes of his father, he was merely a tool. His usefulness was measured by his ability.

Five shook his head, this was no time to be thinking of that man. "Alright, stupidly throwing ourselves head-first into impending danger is a Hargreeves' tradition, so why change it?" The words barely passed through his clenched teeth, sarcasm thickly coating them. "Let's just get out of this shit-hole."

That remark had Diego grinning from ear-to-ear as he turned towards the door. " _Damn_ right!"

Suddenly Five felt... tense. He was finally leaving the stupid room. His fucking cage of 493 days. Yet the moment felt unlike what he had originally imagined. Actually, he'd assumed he would be stuck forever. The first week was spent in a delirious haze of sickness, his only thoughts were that of his family barging in and saving him. That idea had become much too childish already for it to be considered again however, and it had been swept from his mind like dirt on the floor.

Now, however, as Five took determined steps towards a freedom he'd forgotten, a hope sparked in him. It infuriatingly threatened to crumble his carefully structured walls of indifference, his downturned scowl twisting traitorously into a genuine smile.

Five stood hesitant at the doorway, his foot just inches away from escaping his second hell- or perhaps third, if he was counting the Commission? He was shook from his stalling, as Diego spoke up again.

"Come on, old man, you haven't pulled a muscle now, have you?" Five looked up stupidly, lost for words. "Let's go."

"Yeah." Five wondered if the word was even audible, it was spoken much too lowly- too much vulnerability leaking into it. He straightened, teeth grit and hands clenched.

And Five took a step forward- past the doorway.

Suddenly he was struck with a feeling he was all too familiar with. Pain.

Five landed pitifully on his backside, the shock of electricity slowly leaving his twitching limbs. He felt a hand on his shoulder, someone was saying something- yet how was that possible? He was alone, in the small cramped room, a place so completely opposite to the apocalypse he'd grown up in, yet uncomfortably familiar in one way- and one way only- he was alone.

That's how it always was, wasn't it? His curse for purposefully distancing himself from the people he cared most for- not only did it cost him his life, but _them_ as well. He was destined to be alone, the universe may as well be holding a neon sign for fucks sake. First the apocalypse, void of the living but overflowing with their remains. Then it was the Commission, people using one another for their own gain. No one was truly trustworthy- Five dared not get close to anyone. For him, a person who grew up isolated, he hated to admit that he had struggled. He didn't dare consider allowing the vile corrupted _people_ there to help- not even when he didn't understand the new technology available to him, or the social cues and mannerisms he'd forgotten.

Finally, once he'd found his family again, determined to save them from their gruesome fates he caused- he'd fucking done it again. Distanced himself to the point of being absolutely useless. Not one thing he accomplished in last-2019 had been significant in stopping the apocalypse- it had still fucking happened! And in Dallas, the timeline was stilled fucked up, but instead of an apocalypse they got themselves unadopted. Where did everything he did get him? Stuck in a fucking hotel room for over a year. Once again he was alone. Despairingly alone. How fucking ironic.

"Five!" His head shot up, Diego. Fuck. How could he forget?! "You with us, buddy?"

"Yeah." Five glanced at the tender, _caring_ hand on his shoulder. "Stop fucking touching me." Diego's expression flickered to hurt, before becoming worried and _concerned_ again. He did, however, let go. Five finally took in everyone else, Vanya was hovering behind Diego awkwardly, Allison was stood beside Klaus, her mother-like piercing gaze drilling a hole into Five. Klaus just looked confused- lost on what to do.

"Wh-what happened?" Vanya glanced between Five and the door separating them as if it held the answers to the universe.

" _What happened_ is the reason I haven't jumped out of here yet." Five only felt slightly guilty for glaring at Vanya- she couldn't have known anyway, but he knew a part of him blamed his siblings for leaving him so long. "It's like a damn shock collar." he muttered lowly. His hardened eyes met each of his siblings, "You're going to have to push me past the barrier. My body's instincts would never let me do so consciously."

Five could practically see the cogs whirring in Diego's head before he stood up from his kneeling position. "Ok. If that's what it takes."

"Wait!" Diego and Five turned to Allison, her eyes wide open in panic, "How could you agree to that so easily Diego!? You'll hurt him!"

"It wasn't an easy fucking decision, alright?!" Diego looked positively offended at the notion, anger a bright flame in his eyes. Five was lost, why were they so against his idea? "If we don't do it, we'll never get him out of here!" Something else burned in his eyes on closer inspection- the desperate desire for Allison to _understand_.

Five looked between them before following Diego's example to stand. "Let's get this over with. We're wasting time." He just received a nod- there was no response from Allison.

Five positioned himself in front of the door, Klaus stood lowered, prepared to catch him on the other side, while Diego's towering form engulfed him from behind. Five steeled himself, as he had done every week, body ready to take the however-many-volts of electricity that would soon be dancing through him.

"Ready?"

Five grit his teeth and nodded stiffly. He sensed movement from behind him- ordinarily, his instincts would have acted already, his stance would have twisted to dodge, while simultaneously staggering the enemy, giving him ample opportunity to finish them off. However, he did none of that, allowing himself to be pushed forwards. He waited for the fleeting pain of electricity.

-Only, it was most definitely not fleeting. His nerves burned and his entire world was aflame with an intense overwhelming pain. _It wasn't stopping, it wasn't stopping, it wasn't stopping!_ All he could see was white, his thoughts a tirade of pleas- makeitstop _makeitstopmakeitstop, please just fucking make it stop-_ that couldn't make it past his forcefully clenched jaw.

All at once everything disappeared. The white hot _agony_ he inhaled sharply, lungs no longer constricted in pain. His whole body ached and tremors replaced his prior full-body spasms. When Five opened his eyes again, he was back in his room, laying on his back, with his siblings surrounding him. Their stupid eyes widened in- fuck was that... _relief?_

"Sh-sshit." He hissed a breath through his shaking jaws. "Wh-what happened?"

"It- It didn't stop."

_makeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstop_

"Yeah, I f-fucking figured, Allison." Five ignored her, instead he turned to study Klaus more closely. He was shivering... why? It wasn't cold.

Then it clicked. He'd caught Five- Five a literal conduit for electricity. He glanced at Diego, he too was shaking, although he hid it better, he must have dragged him back inside the room. Guilt gnawed at him as a rat would scraps. Five had caused his brother's pain. It felt stupid to hold himself accountable for something he had no control over. But he should have known, Reginald was too cold a bastard to just let him walk out without consequence.

Loud thunderous footsteps vibrated beneath the elbows Five was using to sit up. He stiffened, before hearing the voice accompanying the steps.

"Allison! Diego!" Luther, so that's were the big oaf had gone- playing look-out, how Diego had managed that, Five didn't know, he was impressed though. Allison sprinted towards the door, waving him in urgently. Sure enough, Luther's oversized form stumbled into Five's room, hands on his knees as he takes large gulps of air. "They're here! The Sparrow Academy!"

Without warning all of his siblings formed a coordinated defensive position around him. Facing the door, each preparing their own 'weapons'.

"What are you morons _doing?!"_ Five seethed, "Hurry up and get out of here!"

"Sorry bro, but we're not just gonna leave you here." Diego didn't look away from the door, but Five could _feel_ the smirk lighting his stupid face.

"We've got you." Allison's words were an arrow to his soul. Stealing his breath.

"We're here for you, why would we leave without you?" Vanya's voice was much too soft for him to keep the lump from forming in his throat.

"A _liiittle_ offended here buddy. You can't escape this family that easily." Klaus' usual cheerful behaviour procured a smile on Five's face.

"Can't we just-" Luther turned to Klaus, who immediately shushed him- whispering something about 'ruining the moment'.

Five heart leapt at the sight of his five siblings ready to face the Sparrow Academy- for him. Something in him believed so fucking much that they would make it. Finish this stupid game and return to their lives.

That thought began to waver about a few minutes after the fighting initiated. Then was completely crumbled to dust when Five heard the tortured scream. He whipped his head to Klaus- or where Klaus would be if he weren't wholly covered in birds, upon birds. Five stood at the edge of his room, staring at the spot waiting for Klaus to pop out and say something stupid. He continued to watch as the birds quickly dispersed.

Five's knees buckled immediately at the- the _sight_ of the carnage. Klaus' body lay slumped, covered head-to-toe in awful bone deep cuts, the skin around his eyes peeling, revealing hollowed out pits where his eyes should be. Chunks of flesh had been ripped from his arms- which he must have been desperately trying to defend himself with. His mouth hung open lazily, yet no sound- no sassy wit left it. Klaus was dead.

Five shakily turned to the rest of his siblings, Vanya was struggling, she hadn't noticed Klaus' cor- Five stopped himself from thinking that. Yet he realised what the Sparrow's were doing. They were all focusing Vanya mostly, she was the strongest in terms of power. Just as she was about to release a blast of energy, she was cut short. Blood was spurting from her throat- too much fucking blood, it was a horrible mockery of what she did to Allison and Five did not find that joke funny in the least. She instinctively reached up to her neck, desperate to stop the ceaseless blood flow, it was all for naught. Her terrified eyes dimmed and her form went limp.

Allison had noticed Klaus and Vanya now- shit. She was wide open for an attack!

Five's mouth opened to yell a warning, but a sudden _horrific_ tearing, squelching sound came from his right. He regretted turning so quickly. Luther's upper torso was being held by one of Ben's tentacles, a splattering sound signaled Luther's lower half hitting the floor. Blood poured freely, dripping along the spinal cord that stubbornly held on. Luther's upper half joined his lower on the floor, his head snapping sickeningly towards Five, eye's unseeing, mouth agape.

Allison's cry for her fallen siblings had Five, once again looking towards her. She was running towards Luther's- remains. She didn't get far, suddenly she was flailing as her face hit the harsh ground, followed by her body- missing her feet from the ankles down, a clean cut and singed. She looked down to her legs, face contorting into pain and fear. Before she even had time to scream, a lazar shot through her skull.

Five desperately searched for Diego, catching his back as he rushed one of the members, a battle-cry tore from his throat. Fortunately, he was granted a much quicker death compared to the rest of his siblings. A knife to the heart- not a physical one, but there all the same. Once more the member with the wound transferring ability had killed one of Five's siblings.

Five could only sit, devastated in shock as Reginald emerged from behind the Sparrow Academy, stepping over the remains of his family to stand looking down on him.

"How disappointing. I had expected..." he glanced between each corpse distaste curling his lip, "... _more_ from my previous children."

Reginald shook his head, eyes meeting the top of Five's dark, unkempt hair. It had grown significantly since the last time he'd seen him.

Five kept his gaze down, away from Reginald's piercing orbs. He knew it was futile, the overwhelming _loss_ was palpable in the blood-soaked air. His eyes stung, tears plopping pathetically upon the carpet. Droplets of blood joined them, his teeth puncturing his cracked lips as he held back the sob that begged- _pleaded_ to give away his weakness.

"In the end," Reginald continued, "Their worthless feelings towards one another became their undoing. In a game of Chess, the King does not fall at the loss of a Pawn." He paused, gaze burning through Five. "Yet, here we are."

Five's head shoots up, tear-filled eyes widening at Reginald's pleased smirk.

"You've lost. Your siblings are dead and there's no one else to come save you." Somehow his delight only flourished with his next words, "You will not be receiving any further nourishment, Number Five. I'll send one of my children to collect and thereby dispose of your body once you have succumbed to dehydration or starvation."

"What...?" The word came out strained and Five desperately wished to go back and- _seconds, not decades._ The phrase echoed in his head, reminding him of it's current emptiness. How could he forget? Five's eyes lit up, a smirk of his own pulling almost manically at his lips. He adjusted his- too vulnerable- posture, meeting Reginald's questioning eyes with a challenge.

"What are you planning? Don't you understand? You've failed. It would be foolish for a useless King to attempt to win when his people have long since perished." Five spat on Reginald's trousers- incapable of reaching any higher from his position on the floor.

 _"Fuck you."_ There had been many occasions in which Five had imagined himself saying those two words to his father- although this wasn't _technically_ the same man, it would do- thousands of times throughout his life. From the day the man had lined the seven four year-olds up in front of him and demanded they fess up and accept their punishment for chipping a bowl- a fucking bowl. Five distinctly remembered seeing the stiff way Ben had held himself, near tears. So, logically, he did the only rational thing he could think of. He stepped forward, taking the punishment with Reginald none the wiser.

That was the first time he had taken the metaphorical bullet for one of his siblings, and it most certainly wouldn't have been the last. He hadn't expected his siblings to return the favour, and a part of him was glad that they had ignored the gesture entirely. He would take his beating, eyes never losing that fierce determination, whispering, in his room, the words he had been too much of a coward to utter aloud, "Fuck you."

Every time he'd visited his siblings corpses near the Academy, he'd made sure to say a quick "Fuck you." in it's direction. Anything to rid his head of his father's voice, 'I told you so.'

When he saw The Handler he would imagine the old bastard in her place, and mentally scream "Fuck you!"

It was liberating- in a way. Getting it off his chest, he couldn't help the grin from splitting across his cheeks. He ignored the electricity, using it to fuel his powers as he summoned them. It was something he'd never thought of before- his ability to control space and time took up energy, fortunately for him, electricity was pure energy. It was so simple he was surprised it had taken him so long.

Five searched for Reginald's face, squinting past the pain. The man was infuriated, in his hand a remote of sorts was being held. "Stop this at once Number Five! You and I both know you cannot escape this room." Only, Five wasn't trying to leave the room at all. He still hadn't caught on to his plan yet. A button was pressed, and somehow the voltage increased. Five was used to the saying 'grin and bare it.' So that was exactly what he did.

In a matter of seconds Five watched as the world around him reversed, he pulled and _pulled_ desperate to go as far back as possible. The last time he had used this ability, he'd only reversed a few seconds, now however, he'd jumped straight to minutes, he could already feel the strain he was putting on his body. Once again, Five was sitting on the bed in the middle of the room. Vanya- _alive and breathing_ by his side. Five couldn't help the rush of tears that cascaded down his face at the sight of them. Everyone startled at his, seemingly, unprovoked tears. Five tried to compose himself, to warn them- but _fuck_ was it hard. Like he'd opened a dam that was holding back the ocean.

Vanya's hand on his back was what allowed him to ground himself and breathe. He gave her a thankful smile, an attempt to reassure her that he was ok now.

"You need to leave," Five's scratchy voice tore through the confused and worried silence. "Please." He added on when no one dared move. His siblings weren't saying anything and Five began to grow desperate. "I can't leave, or else I'll die. In approximately ten minutes Luther will run down the hall, warning us of the Sparrow Academy's arrival- about three minutes after that, you all engage in a battle with them." He paused looking each of his siblings in the eye- he needed to get this last point across to them. He needed them to _understand_ "Leading to each of your deaths."

Klaus kneeled in front of Five, "Fivey, Fivey..." He tutted, shaking his head, "Have you finally lost it?"

Oh, how Klaus didn't realise how those words struck absolute terror in Five heart, a cold fear that he _had_ lost it- maybe he was still in the apocalypse, imagining this past year, and the Commission, maybe he was currently talking to thin air, an enjoyment for the Sparrow's who may or may not be watching him in this room they had him trapped in.

Klaus continued- not realising Five's inner turmoil, "We aren't gonna go dying just yet, we still gotta bust _you_ outta here after all."

Five desperately shook his head- they don't understand, he needs them to _understand._ "No! You're not _listening_ to me! I saw it!"

Klaus' expression turned perturbed. "What do you mean? You already told us this in Dallas, remember? We know, and it's ok. You can get it all off your small little chest once we get back to the hotel, ok?" He scoffed at the next part, "Doesn't make me feel any better knowing I died twice though."

"Four times." His voice was so quiet, he almost doubted Klaus could've heard him. Yet Klaus blinked in confusion.

"What?"

"I've seen you all die four times already." He looked into Klaus' eyes, there was no point in holding back anymore. If this could convince them to leave- then he'd lay his whole heart on the table. "The first time, I came across your corpses in the apocalypse. The second I time travelled just before you were all hit with Nukes. The third time-" Five choked, swallowing past the lump in his throat, "The third time was in the barn, with Lila." He glanced at Diego who had stiffened at the mention of her. "You were all gunned down by The Handler. I survived a bit longer than you all- had a couple extra seconds to rewind time."

"Wait-wait! So you're telling me, that we all got killed and you saved us? And _none_ of us knew?" Five nodded tiredly at Diego's panicked tone.

"What do you _mean_ , 'rewound time'? Is that different to the other times you've time travelled?" Although Allison's voice was level, there was a hidden dread underlying it- Five wasn't surprised, being told you'd died would most likely have that effect.

"Yeah, it wasn't a _jump_ through time, more like a swim. If that makes sense..." He scratched the back of his neck trying to figure out a way to explain it to them, "Imagine you're standing on a jagged cliff-face, there's stormy waves lapping beneath you." He observed each sibling trying to picture the scenario, "Now you jump. You don't know exactly _where_ you'll land, but you have a vague idea, as long as you're focused you'll hit close to your mark at least. _That_ is a time jump, when I brought you to Dallas, I wasn't focused enough and pretty much jumped with a blindfold." Understanding lit up on each of their faces, "Alternatively, what I did in the barn was more like starting off on a beach- you'd have to wade and swim through the water first before reaching your destination. It's more accurate and you know where you're headed, but it takes up more energy and can be tiring." He paused studying their reactions. "Do you understand?"

"Yeah, actually that makes so much more sense."

"Wait, so when was the fourth time?" Vanya asked the dreaded question. He sighed.

"In a few minutes." Five didn't wait for the chaos that phrase would bring, instead plowing on, "Which is _why_ you all have to leave, before the Sparrow Academy arrive."

"We- we can't just _leave_ you here!"

"We have no choice Allison!" His eyes were pleading once again, " _Please_ we can figure something else out, but right now I need you to believe me. I'll be fine, I promise." He hadn't meant to let so much vulnerability into his words, but he couldn't take them back now.

"We're not leaving." Five's head whipped around to Diego, his face was stern, leaving no room for argument. Five stood, ready to fight him on this if necessary. "Wait!" Five paused, "I have an idea, alright?" Diego held his hands up in a placating gesture, he received only squinted eyes and impatience from Five. "We know what they're planning to do, right? You've seen it! We have the upper hand here!"

"No- that's not going to work you idiot." Five stared at the pure imbecile standing before him, "Their _stronger_ than us, they've been training their whole lives under Reginald- who I bet had taught them all about us."

"But there's still a _chance_ that it might work, right?" He had that stupid grin now, as if he couldn't get on Five nerves any more. Five hated to admit it, but Diego was onto something, it wasn't foolproof by any means, but he had a point- Five wasn't saying that he was _right_ by any means! He just had the right idea.

"Alright, there's a _slim_ chance that this plan of yours _might_ work. I'd prefer if we had something more solid... but I suppose it's already too late for you to run without encountering them anyway..." He massaged his temples, trying to think of something better. He came up with nothing, "We'll do it." They immediately erupted in joy, cheering like they'd already won or something, "-But! You don't take any unnecessary risks- no playing hero, stick to the plan that I come up with. I don't really want to see you all die again."

Fortunately for them, they had a genius on their side. In the remaining few minutes they had before Luther would come running, Five detailed the plan- instructing Klaus to tell Luther upon his arrival.

"Do we all know what we're doing?" He received four nods, "Good. Now, I'll be pretty much useless, I can't jump, and they'll likely try to keep the battle out in the hallway- don't try and lead them into my room, they have too many long range abilities, we'd be cornered. Last time you fought, Klaus died first, if you can, try and stick close Luther." Although Klaus screwed his face up in discomfort, he gave a mock salute, it was good enough for Five, "Vanya, they'll be targeting you. You're powers are the most destructive. Don't fight more than one on your own, stay with Diego and Allison, shield them, keep on the defensive."

Footsteps thumped down the hallway, Five straightened, each sibling was prepared. "Allison! Diego!" Luther once again stumbled into his room, "They're here! The Sparrow Academy!"

"We know." Luther looked flabbergasted at seeing Five, cogs were turning in that big head of his, trying to make sense of what Five was telling him.

"Wai- what? How?"

Klaus just waved an unconcerned hand in Luther's direction, "Time travel stuff." Like _that_ would explain everything... "Come over here, I'll tell ya the plan."

Klaus proceeded to drag a fumbling Luther over to the corner of Five's room, hands waving about exaggeratedly.

"When this is all over..." Five turned around at the sudden voice, facing Diego. "How are we gonna get you out of here? You said you'd die if you left, right?"

Five smirked, reassurance in his eyes, "Don't worry, we'll figure something out- could always interrogate the old bastard." His eyes hardened, "But Diego, that's only _if_ this plan works. Don't get ahead of yourself. Concentrate on the _now_ not the possible future, ok?"

"Yeah, you're right, sorry." He nodded stiffly and walked over to Allison and Vanya, they spoke amongst themselves.

Five looked back to the doorway, unease settling in his gut, it was a gamble and a half- based on assumptions- but he prayed it would work. Then he heard it, various footfalls of the Sparrow Academy roaring down the hallway.

"They're coming!" He whispered harshly over his shoulder. As the siblings marched in front of him, Five felt Diego's hand linger on his shoulder, their eyes met.

"Believe in us, ok old man?" He didn't wait for a response, just continuing to his rightful position ahead of him.

With each of their backs to Five, he felt a horrible sense of déjà vu. Involuntarily, his arm stretched out, reaching towards them.

_"Don't go."_

No one heard his broken whisper and as the Sparrow Academy reached their destination, Five allowed his arm to drop uselessly at his side. All he could do now was watch. Hope that his rushed plan would work and his siblings would survive.

The fight began, as soon as the birds were released, Vanya took them out with a single shockwave- her ability to take out numerous targets at once an easy counter to the bird girls power.

A tentacle headed straight for Klaus was stopped by Luther's hand. He grabbed a hold of it- using the not-Ben's shock to his advantage- and _pulled._ Not-Ben was thrown across the hallway and slammed into one of the many rooms away from sight.

Diego moved with Allison and Vanya, throwing knives as they maneuvered in a seemingly sporadic pattern. Of course that was what it would appear like to the Sparrow Academy.

Five had tasked them with the job of getting _around_ the Sparrow's. Klaus released an army of the undead, distracted them from realising what the Umbrella Academy were really after. Reginald.

Lazars threatened to stop them, but Vanya's barrier held strong. A few ghosts, held the arms of the man who could transfer injuries, keeping him from ruining the plan. Another woman stood beside the lazar man frustration bleeding out of her as she turned to and fro- waiting for something? Her, the blonde guy and the- the _cube?_ Were the only unknowns left in this particular equation. That was cut down to two, when the blonde man pulled a chunk of the wall out and threw it towards Klaus- who was shielded by Luther's large form. Super strength. At the moment Five had no idea how similar it would be to Luther's own abilities, but he didn't have the time to be worrying about that.

Diego's group had reached Reginald- who had been surprised that they knew he'd been there- yet made no move to call for help or protest as Diego held a knife to his throat and called the attention of the Sparrow's.

"Hey idiots!" It was almost comical seeing them whip their heads around in perfect synchronicity. Allison was on standby next to Reginald, prepared to rumour him should he make any moves, while Vanya stood behind the three, a barrier in place. It was an impenetrable formation, and Five tried to ignore the doubt nagged at his brain. His plan was going perfectly, so far.

"You move and he's dead." They all nodded dumbly, "Now, _dad_ here is gonna tell us how we can get Five out of there- _safely._ And then, we'll be outta your hair." Diego turned his attention on Reginald, "Out with it."

Reginald, let out a sigh, appearing disgruntled at the whole situation- as if it were just a mere inconvenience.

"I imagine this was Number Five's plan? I doubt any of you have the capability for strategy. Although I _am_ curious as to how he knew I would be here."

Reginald's cold gaze met Five's as he stood at the very edge of the doorway, just able to see them past the Sparrow Academy. There was something in the nonchalant way he was holding himself that screamed red flags in Five's mind.

Diego grew frustrated when his demand was blatantly ignored, he pressed the knife closer to the old mans jugular, drawing only a sliver of blood. "Answer me damn it!"

"Very well, there is a device that would allow for Number Five's safe extraction from the room." He reached into his coat and Diego stiffened- barely suppressing the urge to slit his throat then and there. Reginald's hand re-emerged holding a strange device- Five thought it looked familiar and wracked his brain trying to remember where he'd seen it. Then he noticed smirks breaking out between the Sparrow Academy and it clicked.

"Wait, Diego it's a trap!"

Allison stiffened opening her mouth and spewing the words out, _"I heard a rumour you couldn't press that button!"_

It wasn't her most eloquent rumour, yet it did the trick and Reginald's finger paused over the button- inches from it. Every sibling breathed a sigh of relief- Five included.

"Shit that was close." Klaus muttered, he glanced at Five, "What does it even do anyway?"

Five wasn't given time to respond, as Reginald _threw_ the device past Vanya's barrier- designed to shield from _outside_ attacks- where it was caught by the frustrated woman from before. She wasted no time in activating the device. There was a moment of silence as the siblings looked between each other, trepidation leading to their cautious hesitation. It seemed Klaus would get his answer from Five after all- as the silence was shattered when Five felt the pain of thousand volts shoot through his body.

He's sure he'd crumpled to the floor, but he couldn't tell past the agony, nor the bone deep cry that deafened him. Or maybe that cry came from him? It would make sense with his tortured throat. Five felt like his whole body was splitting apart, every atom breaking away until he was left as nothing.

After too long- much too long- Five was blessed with a break. He gasped for breath, hand reaching for his erratically beating heart. It was only when Five finally opened his throbbing eyes that he realised he was laying in a puddle of red. _Shit, did my wound open again?_ was the first thought that entered his head- that was until he noticed the feeling of a hand laying limp across his shoulders, he followed the abnormally large arm towards it's owner. Luther's lifeless gaze met his.

Five startled, scrambling backwards on unresponsive limbs as he tried to shove the corpse off of him, a broken cry escaped his tormented throat. His back hit a wall and he pressed against it all he could see was Luther's glassy eyes and the seeping hole in his stomach. What the fuck happened?

He jerked his head to the side, looking outside of his room, only to see more littered corpses. Klaus was just outside the door, slumped against the wall a hole between his eyes.

Allison was further away, face down with her arm outstretched towards him, her face morphed into a permanent gasp of pain.

Vanya was propped against the wall opposite Allison, a dark bruise enveloped her neck, her lips were blue and her eyes bulged.

Diego was the furthest away, his body lay broken in front of Reginald's own corpse, the throat slit- Diego, the bastard had finally gotten to kill him in the end after all.

Then he understood, they'd all been facing him. Reaching for him. He choked back a sob as he realised that they'd been distracted by his pain and ran to help him, seeming to have forgotten the Sparrow Academy members. They'd died _because_ of him.

Five turned away from the Sparrow Academy and his siblings corpses, staggering to his feet and summoning his powers. This time he'd save them- he swore it.

When Five arrived in the past, he bolted straight to his feet- masking his desperation and fear behind expertly crafted walls.

"You need to get out of here." He did a 'shoo-ing' gesture, which quickly turned into a physical pushing in his impatience, so it only annoyed him further when Allison and Diego stared back defiantly- confusion evident in their gazes.

"What? _Why?_ " Five stepped back, looking her in the eyes. Shit he needed to get his point across, these idiots wouldn't understand unless he dumbed it down for them. He gave her feral grin, something he had used to intimidate anyone and everyone at the Commission.

" _Because,_ the Sparrow Academy's coming, and when they do-" Five cut himself off, scared of what he was about to disclose to them. He swallowed the words down, "You just gotta' trust me on this one, ok?"

Bless the stupid idiot, Diego nodded. He wondered what he had done to deserve the trust Diego was so readily giving him, but he didn't complain. "Alright. Let's go. Come on." He beckoned Five to his side- and fuck he truly was an idiot. The implications of Five's words flying straight over his head.

Five's heart ached and he couldn't keep the distress of his next words from slipping through his expression. "I can't go with you." Five hastily held a hand up, when Diego looked about ready to kill someone. "I mean I _physically_ can't go with you." Something odd passed over each of his siblings expressions. He nodded towards the doorway, "If I pass the doorway, it shocks me." Everyone's face dropped.

"Can't we just push you past it?" Five would have scoffed at the question had the memory of how that had turned out last time not replayed through his head.

"No, the electricity will keep shocking me even past the barrier. It would kill me after a few minutes." Five hadn't meant to sound so much like Reginald- tone cold and emotionless- and it hurt him when Diego winced.

"Wait- so how do we get you out?" Five exhaled deeply, prepared for the chaos his next words would bring.

"You can't. Not yet anyway."

"But we just found you! We can't just- just _leave_ you here!" Shit. He'd almost forgotten about Klaus- he'd been so quiet.

"Yes you are. I'll be fine- I've survived this long haven't I?"

"Yeah a couple hours." Allison's words caught Five off-guard, what did she mean by that? Now that he thought about it... His siblings were all wearing exactly the same outfits as they had all those months ago. Had his tallying been completely off? No. There's no way he would mistake a few hours for 493 days. Was there more to this then? Five mentally shook himself- his thoughts were getting off-track. He schooled his expression once more.

"It doesn't matter, _ok?_ Luther's gonna come around that corner any minute now, and by then we won't have time for this!" Five tried with all his might to shove Diego, but his limbs were too tired from rewinding time and getting electrocuted.

At Luther's loud footsteps Five felt faint. He couldn't lose them again! What if the next time his powers fail him? What if he can't go back?

"Allison! Diego!" Five numbly watched the movements he'd seen twice already, "They're here! The Sparrow Academy!" The mention of them was enough for Five to feel sick.

"Shit!" Five ignored Luther's stare.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go." The ape-brained idiot was grinning moronically, more footsteps could be heard down the hall. However just as he was about to snap at him for being stupid, an idea sparked and Five smirked as he grabbed ahold of Diego- who looked ready to punch Luther. He looked down confused at Five's actions, Five willed as much reassurance into his eyes as possible- he couldn't have him getting any stupid ideas. It seemed to work as Diego's eyes lit up and he turned to the rest of the siblings- urging them to hold onto one another.

A frown pulled at Allison's mouth, she looked doubtfully at Five, "What happened? Did you figure out how to leave?" Unfortunately his sister wasn't as ready to blindly trust Five, and although that hurt a bit, Five ignored it in favour of being proud that she had the intelligence to question him.

"Yeah. Something like that." Shit it was too vague- Five didn't want to outright lie to his siblings if at all possible- Allison's frown only deepened. He forced nonchalance into his body language and expression, rolling his eyes fondly, "Don't worry. I'll get you guys out of here. _Safely._ " He ignored the uncertainty that flashed across Diego's expression, "This might hurt." he swallowed past the guilt- he hated tricking them, even if it was for their own good and he knew that the next part would _physically_ hurt them even more. He assured himself it was for the greater good, a bit of pain for a lot of gain. "Sorry." The word tumbled from his throat before he could stop it.

Then Five activated his powers- pushing to let them out and only them. He couldn't accurately teleport them anywhere safe- but he tried to aim for the city anyway. It was odd how easily it came to him- the ability to teleport someone other than himself, though he supposed it wasn't that much different to teleporting objects. The final crackles of electricity left his body as the Sparrow Academy arrived. He kneeled alone in his room. Grinning defiantly up at Reginald as he stepped through the door.

"Checkmate." Five always hated Chess metaphors, but he reveled in the confusion that flashed briefly across Reginald's face- the bastard wouldn't get the reference, and Five just knew how much Reginald hated not knowing something.

"What are you talking about you foolish boy?"

"Fuck if I know." He huffed a laugh to himself, grinning as Reginald's face grew red. "I thought you liked Chess metaphors? Or has that changed since my siblings aren't corpses beneath your feet?" He was toying with him now- sure he may be giving away one of his trump cards, but _fuck_ was it worth it to see the utterly offended expression his father gave him.

"I suppose it's been long enough, hasn't it?" The old man barely turned his head, eyes focused solely on Five.

"Yes sir." The blonde guy replied.

"I was hoping two years would be enough to break you. It seems that won't be the case, Number Five. You've impressed me with your determination these past 624 days. It would be foolish of me to continue trying."

Five stiffened, shit. He'd lost way more time than he'd first assumed. "What are you getting at?" Five was ignored.

"Number One, bring them." The blonde one with super-strength, Reginald's new Number One it appeared, stepped forward, producing a pair of handcuffs connected to a metallic collar of sorts via chain. Reginald just nodded towards Five's kneeling form. "Don't bother trying anything, Number Five."

Surprisingly, Five didn't move as the cuffs were adjusted too-tightly on his thin wrists, nor when the collar clicked in place. He felt like a convict- and was about to sarcastically comment so, when he was harshly pushed towards the doorway. His eyes widened.

"Wh-what are you doing?!"

"Don't worry, you won't die. I've already disabled the rooms' security feature. That device you're wearing around your neck will keep you in check in it's absence."

Reginald's words may have appealed to Five logical side, but his instincts screamed at him to stay away from the doorway- don't step over it. He was stuck between understanding and panic- resulting in an awful numbness. He did flinch however as he was shoved into the hallway. He would have laughed at the lack of pain had he not been stuck in a state of pathetic apathy.

With a final look of- whatever the fuck Reginald was looking at him with- Five was lead down the seemingly never-ending hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that took way too long to write xD I'm really sorry if there were any medical inaccuracies, I literally just Googled and hoped for the best (If you want you can rant in the comments and I'll fix it xD). Also I'm pretty sure I got all the Sparrow Academy's abilities right? I just stared at the comic pages and hoped I wasn't misinterpreting them xD
> 
> Also! Sorry about electrocuting Five a gazillion times, whoops. I hadn't meant to, but you know...


End file.
